The Prince
by Rune71
Summary: Seven-year-old Rin only wanted to escape. In the process of doing so, he finds out he has the ability to summon blue fire. But when he is approached by a stranger claiming to want to take him home, what does he do?
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

**Disclaimer: I don't own Blue Exorcist. That right belongs to Kazue Kato.**

* * *

The night sky outside the cave was lit up blue. Inside the cave, a woman lay, holding two sleeping bundles of new life close to her. One, black haired, bore flames the same color as the sky outside and a tail, evidence of his demonic heritage. The other, smaller, looked human. The crunch of boots on the snow outside woke the woman. She looked up at the strong silhouette framed by the entrance of the cave.

"Please, Shiro," she begged. "Don't kill them."

The man grunted. He had known, traveling there, that whatever he had said to the Grigori earlier, he would not be able to kill infants.

"Don't be afraid, Yuri. I'll help take care of them, if you let me." he offered.

Yuri looked terrible. Her face was lined with exhaustion and there were deep purple bags under her eyes. No doubt because of all that had happened in the last few days. In fact, she looked rather weak and was trembling.

"I'm afraid, Shiro," she said softly. "I don't think we'll be sharing the burden. You'll have to shoulder it alone."

It took him a minute. "Wait, Yuri, you're not going to die- you have to live! At least for your children!" he cried. _This could not be happening._

"I'm sorry, Shiro. Please, take them. This is Rin," she said pointing to the one with demonic features. "This is Yukio," she said, pointing to the other. "Please help them grow up to be good _men_."

Shiro, choked up, nodded, and managed to say, "I will." He didn't miss the emphasis the young mother had put on _men_. The two infants were obviously the sons of the demon king himself, Satan. The only way they would survive is if the Grigori had no knowledge of the twin's true heritage.

He watched as her breathing slowed and the trembling stopped. After she had been still for over a minute, he checked her pulse. Nothing. Her wrist was cool. With a stone face, he picked up the two sleeping boys. As he exited the cave with them in his arms, he noticed a figure standing outside the cave.

"Twins. How unexpected," said Mephisto Pheles. The demon had a curious look on his face, almost calculating. "What are you planning to do with them?"

"I will take them, and raise them as human boys," Fujimoto replied. "It was Yuri's last wish of me."

"Would you like my help with that?" Mephisto questioned. "I can seal the boy's power, although it may only last a decade or two. That would at least keep them away from the Grigori."

"Why are you doing this?" Fujimoto asked, trying to ascertain the demon's true motives. Despite the two's tentative friendship, Fujimoto could never truly understand how Mephisto thought.

"Why, to defeat my dear old dad," Mephisto replied, smirking. "That boy, that young demon you now hold in your arms could be the greatest weapon I – I mean, the exorcists, have ever created."

The Paladin thought it over. It would mean Rin would have to fight, eventually. He looked at the child in his arms. He didn't want to have to make him fight. That would be cruel. But, as a son of Satan who had inherited the blue flames, he would be mixed up in it one way or another.

"Fine. Seal his powers." Fujimoto sighed in defeat. It really was for the best – this at least would buy them some time.

"Oh, I can't do it yet," Mephisto said. "I need an artifact to seal his powers in."

"Is there one in particular that would work especially well?" Fujimoto asked.

"Perhaps." Mephisto paused. "It would have to be a demon sword, capable of restraining a large amount of power, because the boy's strength will only grow. The Koumaken might possibly work."

"The Koumaken is, I believe, being held by the Myodha at the moment. But I will be able to get it. After all, I've been there before and I know the head monk." Fujimoto said. "I will meet you at the Japan Branch Office, your office, as soon as I can. You'll have to take them, until I get back."

"How wonderful! Einz, Zwei, Drei!" With that, Mephisto disappeared with the twins in a cloud of pink smoke and Fujimoto was left alone in the cold, dark night. _Better get going,_ he thought, and left.

* * *

It was pure luck that he had managed to get to the temple without being attacked, and sheer luck that there was enough confusion that nobody noticed him 'acquire' the sword. Fujimoto strolled through the hallways of the Branch office, until he reached a strangely decorated door. He knocked three times, and waited for the call of "Enter!" before he opened the door and walked in. The demon king looked a little harried- Yukio had woken and was wailing disconsolately. The Paladin smiled, amused at the elder demon's obvious discomfort. "I have the sword."

"Oh, wonderful. Take this one, will you? In order to do the sealing I can't be distracted."

The Paladin took the baby, and Mephisto turned to Rin, who was lying on the desk, the sword in both the demon king's hands. Fujimoto was suddenly reminded of the story of Solomon and the baby. Mephisto unsheathed the sword and started chanting in some Latin-sounding dialect, probably a demon language. The blue flames, previously wreathing the child's head, were being drawn slowly into the blade. After a few minutes, Mephisto returned the sword to the sheath and leaned on the desk, showing minute signs of fatigue. "The sealing's done. It should hold. Come back if there are any problems." he said.

The Paladin took this as the dismissal that it was. "Thank you, Mephisto Pheles." he said, and left, carrying both the boys.

Mephisto placed the key leading to the church in the lock for him and turned. Fujimoto stepped through the door and yelled "I'm home! And I've brought guests!" Mephisto smirked at him, before withdrawing the key and tossing it in after him. The door slammed shut.

The other priests rushed out of their rooms at the noise, only to draw back in surprise at the sight of the two infants in the Head Priest's arms.

Fujimoto decided to introduce them. "This one, with the black hair is Rin. This one is Yukio. They will be staying with us indefinitely. These are the two that precipitated the disaster tonight, the ones I was sent to kill." the look on his face changed. "But they were just so cute!" he nearly squealed.

The pries looked around at each other. "Well, guess that's that." one said, and they all crowded around the two new residents, bombarding Fujimoto with questions about their care. When they realized he knew almost nothing of childcare, they all decided to pitch in.

 _Hello, Rin, Yukio. You're gonna have a fine time here. Just grow up and enjoy your life with us, okay?_

* * *

 **A/N: So embarrassing. I thought I fixed a grammar error, but then I was going through it and noticed it again. This time I really did fix it. I hope.**


	2. Chapter 2: Bullies and a Half-Brother

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything recognizable. Anything you do recognize goes to Kazue Kato.**

 **A/N - You're lucky, I'm on vacation right now.** **Currently publishing on my friend's laptop, 'cuz yeah...**

* * *

"C'mon, Yuki-kun, it's good to sacrifice. You should know that, living with priests and all."

"So just give us your lunch money and you won't get hurt."

"Okay, I'll give you my money, just leave me alone." Yukio's voice quavered. He only sounded like that when he was close to crying.

Rin was standing just behind the corner of the building and heard it all. But after Shiro's warning, he knew he couldn't fight in front of Yukio, or else he'd get in major trouble. He heard Yukio scramble away, and then the bullies laughed.

"Man, that kid is so easy to get."

"He's such a wimp. And those glasses!"

"He's a baby, but the other one - but his brother, he's a demon. If he hears about this-"

"Hears about what?" Rin asked as he stepped out from behind the corner of the building. The bullies looked surprised to see him.

"Did - Did you hear...all of that?" one of the bullies asked.

"You mean the part where you threatened my brother? I heard that, and I know you made him cry. You're gonna regret that," Rin growled.

"Oh yeah? Well, take this!"

After a few minutes of beatings on both sides, Rin stepped back, the other three boys finally defeated.

"I told you you were gonna regret it," Rin said as he wiped blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. _At least they weren't hurt too badly,_ He thought. _And a split lip and black eye are worth it on my part._

The other boys looked shocked that Rin had managed to get the better of all of them. "You're a demon!" One shouted over his shoulder as he hurried away. The others followed after throwing Rin hate-filled looks. Rin huffed. It wasn't his fault that he was stronger than everyone else, it didn't mean he was a demon. They shouldn't have been picking on Yukio, anyways. They got what they deserved. He started walking home. He opened the door when he got there, announcing his arrival.

"Rin-kun! What happened to you?" One of the priests exclaimed.

"Umm...We were playing baseball in gym class today." He was lucky - that actually was what they were doing, so he wasn't technically lying, and if they asked Yukio, he'd say the same thing. It was lucky they had gym class at different times though.

"Well, we'd better get that looked at."

* * *

"Hey, Satoshi, is this him?"

Rin looked up and froze as he saw the high schooler standing next to one of the bullies that had been threatening Yukio. And what was worse was that there were two more high schoolers. He thought back to the incident four days previous and winced. Maybe his dad really was right in saying that fighting didn't solve anything.

"I heard from Satoshi you were the one responsible for his injuries," the middle one said.

"He was bullying my little brother!" Rin yelled indignantly. So what if Satoshi got a little beat up? It's not like Rin broke anything. Satoshi would be fine in a few days. Besides, Satoshi was bullying Yukio. If he hadn't been a bully, none of this would have happened, so it was all Satoshi's fault, really.

"Satoshi would never do anything like that, right Satoshi?" Rin grew angry as he realized the high school boy was completely ignoring his side of the story and only listening to his brother. It was obvious Satoshi was lying, and the older boy didn't even care!

"Right!" Satoshi agreed with a nasty grin.

"Well you heard it. So what are we going to do with you? I heard that the threat of knives is very good persuasion. Maybe if I cut you a little -accidents happen all the time, right? You already look beat up- no one will question any new injuries you get."

His words, coupled with his sadistic grin, convinced Rin that the bully wasn't just bluffing. He was terrified. As the older teen approached, he started squirming, trying to escape the hold of the other teens. When the leader was close enough that the knife was pressed up against his skin, he felt something snap. All three teens jumped back, and Rin fell to the ground as blue flames enveloped him, burning the hands of those holding him and causing the dropped knife to glow with heat. The leader started stammering- "What...How..." before turning to run, quickly followed by his younger brother and the other two teens.

When the threat had disappeared from sight, Rin started sobbing, but whether out of relief or terror, he didn't know. After a few minutes he began to calm down. He stared in wonder at the blue flames still curling off his skin. Did he have magic powers? That would be so cool! First things first though, he couldn't just go walking around while on fire. Concentrating, he looked at his arms. _Go away_ , he thought. _I'll use you again later, but I need you to leave for now._ Miraculously, his flames disappeared. _All right!_ He started walking home, thinking about what to do next. He'd have to be careful- he couldn't use them out in the open, out people would freak out. He would just have to train in secret, then.

He slowly stood up, wincing at the pain in his stomach and palms, which were scraped when he fell. He started limping towards the general direction of the monastery, and sighed in relief when he caught a glimpse of the steeple. He made his way to his home, painfully opening the door and announcing his arrival as he headed to the bathroom.

"Rin! You're all beat up again!" said one of the priests.

"Oh, I'm okay, it's not bad," he replied. Despite his injuries and imminent scolding for having been in a fight, Rin looked happy.

"We better get you patched up, kiddo. That cut on your stomach looks nasty."

"Okay, sure." His mood seemed a little too light for the situation.

"Is something wrong, Rin? You're acting odd."

Rin looked startled, and replied, "Ha ha, really? Of course not! I'm just tired, is all."

* * *

A few days later, Rin was walking home after school alone because Yukio was staying late for some club. The old man said he'd pick Yukio up once the club was over, so Rin wasn't too worried and decided to head over towards the abandoned park. He wanted to try bringing out his flames again.

It took a few minutes, but when he got there he crawled behind the center play structure, facing away from the empty street.

He concentrated. _Come out!_ He was sure his face was turning red from the effort. _Come out!_ He mentally yelled, and finally he was rewarded with blue light emanating from his entire body. _Not that much! Just... my right hand_. The flame responded sluggishly, slowly disappearing from the rest of his body but remaining on his right hand. _Wow, that took a long time,_ _he thought_. _I should try to make it go faster._ He was about to extinguish the flame to try again, when a shadow fell over him. He looked up, startled, and saw a weird teenager with horns and a tail standing over him.

"Hello, younger brother," the teen said, smirking. "My name is Astaroth. Our father wants to meet you." He then waved over one of the strange black bugs he'd been seeing recently, and whispered to it. He couldn't hear much, but was able to make it the words, "Gehenna... yes... Father... pleased... youngest" Rin wasn't sure what he was talking about, so he decided to ask.

"Umm..excuse me, but what did you mean by 'little brother'? And who is this 'Father' person you're talking about? And what's Gehenna?"

Astaroth turned around, surprised. "You don't know who you are?"

"Of course I do! I'm Rin Okumura! My father is Shiro Fujimoto, and my brother is Yukio Okumura! I live in a church, and I'm seven years old!"

Astaroth gave him a strange look. "Rin, I don't know what the humans have told you, but they lied." The older demon was starting to look angry. "You and I are sons of Satan, the king of demons. So you are my little brother, although your mother was human and mine was demon. Gehenna is a parallel world to this one, which is called Assiah. Gehenna is where demons live, it's where you belong. And now that I've found you, I'm bringing you home."

As he spoke, the ground behind him started bubbling grotesquely. Rin thought it was creepy at first, but when the bubbles started to look like heads he became horrified. "What is that?" he cried.

"The Gehenna gate. It's the portal back home."

Rin made a decision.

"I don't want to go! I'll stay here and be a human even if my dad isn't!"

"Tough luck, kid," Astaroth sneered. "You're going, whether you want to or not." He picked Rin up by the front of his shirt and threw him into the seething mass. As Rin sunk into the Gate, his last thoughts were, _I'll see you again, Yukio, Old Man. I'll come back. I promise._

* * *

When he arrived in Gehenna, he immediately noticed the differences in color. It was darker than Assiah. The sky was a purple-gray color, like rainclouds, and kind of hazy. It was a lot warmer there too, and more humid. When Astaroth joined him with a thump, he heard him say, "Oh, you look much better. I had been beginning to think you weren't a proper demon!"

Rin's eyes widened as he jumped up and inspected himself. He didn't feel different, but...wait, was that a tail? He lifted up his new appendage to inspect it, and noticed that his fingernails had sharpened into claws. His tail wasn't too bad-actually, it was kind of cool. It was narrower, with a tuft of black fur covered in blue fire at the tip. He saw a puddle, and leaned over it to see his face. His ears were long, and pointed, he could tell, as he fingered the tips. He had slitted eyes. His jaw dropped, and he saw how his canines had lengthened and sharpened. The final touch was the two globules of fire where horns would have been on another demon. It was a shock, but once Rin got used to it, he had to admit it was pretty cool, like a bad guy in one of his manga. He didn't really want to be a bad guy though.

Astaroth pulled him up by his wrist and dragged him until Rin stopped resisting and walked beside him. "Where are we going?" he asked his supposed older brother.

"I'm taking you to Father," he responded impatiently. "Quit asking questions, it's getting annoying."

Astaroth walked through some massive gates made of some black, twisty metal. The gates opened onto a city that looked like some of those medieval European ones that the Old Man had shown him and Yukio in pictures. There were people on the streets, in all sorts of clothes, but when he looked closer, they were actually demons.

They went through another gate, this time going into a large castle. From the castle entrance they made their way into a large hall. He stared wide-eyed at the massive hallway as they entered. Rows of pillars held up the high ceiling. At the end of the hall was a half-wall topped by blue flames. In the middle of the flame was a large stone chair. On the chair was a tall figure lounging, shadows cast by the flames playing across his harsh features. His father, Satan, King of the demons. It was strange - like looking into a mirror 40 years into the future. They really looked alike.

"My son," he said. "Welcome home."

"What about Yukio?" Rin asked. "He's your son, too."

"He is human, with none of my power," Satan said dismissively. "He is worthless. An insect, to be squashed underfoot!"

"No he isn't! He's my brother!" Rin had yelled back, in all his seven-year-old wisdom.

Satan's face blanked. "Astaroth, leave us. He will learn the result of his insolence."

Immediately complying, Astaroth fled the throne room and Rin felt fear. However kind Satan has seemed at first, he wasn't now. "You dare disobey me, King of all Demonkind? Your own father?" he asked menacingly. Rin gulped.

"N-no, sir," he answered, trying to make up for his previous mistake, but it didn't work. Satan rose threateningly, extending his hand towards Rin, who flinched. Immediately he was surrounded by blue flames. It was really hot, like standing in an oven, but not unbearable. Rin glanced cautiously back up at the demon king, who had a calculating look on his face. Immediately after, he let out a bark of laughter.

"So, you truly have inherited my flame," he said. "You are worthy." He got up from his throne, walking down towards Rin and placing a heavy hand on his small shoulder. "Walk with me," Satan commanded, leading him out of the room.

Rin jogged to keep up. He looked curiously around at the hallway. It was kind of old-looking like the church. Darker, though, because it didn't have electric lights.

They stopped in front of a navy-blue door. "This will be your room," Satan said. "I will assign a demon to teach you how to be a demon, and more importantly, how to act as my heir."

"Your heir?" Rin said, startled. "I thought I was the youngest demon son."

"You are the only one of my nine sons that has inherited my blue flames. Therefore, I have appointed you as my heir." Satan replied, obviously amused. "They also have their own domains to handle." He paused. "I leave you here. Your training starts tomorrow."

He left, and Rin was left to explore his room. He opened the door carefully.

His room was big. The ceiling was higher than that of the hallway, probably at least three meters high. There were probably four meters from side wall to side wall, and three from the outside wall to the door. It was like the size of the chapel in the church! The walls were dark blue, just a shade lighter than the door.

Up against the left wall was a large bed, bigger than the ones he and Yukio slept in combined. He turned around with a grin to point it out to him, but faltered when he remembered Yukio was in the human world - the demons called it Assiah.

The young demon sat despondently on the bed, missing his brother. He slowly took in the other details of the room. The outside wall had windows facing out on the capital city of Gehenna. He supposed it was cool enough. The wall across from him had a mirror and a table next to another door. Probably a closet.

Something dropped on his hand. He looked down. _A tear?_ He hadn't cried in a long time...but he'd always had his brother with him. Without Yukio, though, he didn't know if he could do it.

* * *

Yukio placed his pencil down, finally completed with his homework. He glanced at the clock. Six fifty-seven. Dinner was in three minutes. He didn't see Rin in their room, so he went into the kitchen. No Rin there. He checked the bathroom. No Rin. Yukio was starting to get curious. "Dad, have you seen Rin?" he asked.

"No, why?"

"I can't find him anywhere and he knows that dinner is always at seven," Yukio explained. "He should be here, but he's not."

Shiro immediately checked the time to confirm what Yukio was saying. Six fifty-nine. Rin had never been late to dinner before, at least not without notifying him first. He knew the rules. _Curses!_ He told Yukio to go sit down for dinner, that he'd take care of it.

Trying to remain calm, he headed to the stairs leading to the Koumaken. If the Seal on the sword was broken, Rin was lost. He fumbled with the keys and finally selected the correct one to unlock the drawer. He pulled it out hastily, dislodging the sword. He picked up the sword and- _the seal was broken._ The seal was broken. Rin had awakened and the demons were after him, if they hadn't caught him already. Or if he wasn't already dead. He unsheathed the sword, and blue fire sprang from the blade. _So Rin was still alive._

He rushed back into the main room after carefully replacing the sword. He had a call to make to a certain demon king.


	3. Chapter 3: New Life

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize.**

 **Thanks to the four people who have reviewed so far!**

 **And don't worry, I don't see this ending any time soon, though updates might be a bit irregular because I'm moving to Singapore in a month...but on to the story!**

* * *

Mephisto glanced curiously at the phone ringing on his desk. In contrast to the rest of the room's rather vibrant decoration, the telephone was completely plain. It was the emergency phone he usually kept hidden, after all. It didn't matter it people saw it. He flipped it open, checking the caller ID. _Ah_. "How is everything going?" he asked seemingly light-heartedly. The moment of silence on the other end informed him that something was indeed amiss.

"Rin's missing and the seal is broken," Shiro informed him. Mephisto frowned. O _ne of my pieces has gone missing._ He reached out, trying to sense any usage of trace of blue flames. There were some present around Shiro's place, but all of them were within a five-mile radius.

"Wait for me, I'll be by presently," he announced whimsically, hanging up just after. _Blood and bones!_ Having the young half-demon would have advanced his plans considerably. _Oh well_. If he remembered correctly, there had been two boys. Perhaps the other would manifest as well.

He twirled a key in his fingers before standing and making his way to the door, inserting it into the lock. He passed through onto a narrow street lit by lamps. Walking down a ways, he stopped at a church. He knocked politely, waiting for the door to open. He had learned that humans preferred to open their own doors, rather than having demons waltz in - or through - by themselves. He didn't have to wait a moment before seeing the worried face of his co-conspirator. "Well, well, if it isn't my favorite Paladin," he began suavely.

"Cut the act, Samael," Shiro commanded. The demon in question drew back, surprised at the use of his true name. "This is serious. Rin's been missing for about four hours. We need to visit all the places with traces of the blue flame, to see if we can find clues of where he's gone."

"I get it, I get it," Mephisto said dismissively. "I understand what's at stake here." _Probably more than you do_. "Follow me to all recent sites of the blue flame!"

The demon and priest set off to the first place, an alley off of a main street. The only things they found were a knife and a few drops of blood on the ground. That was most likely from the time Rin came home injured, just a few days previous, with the cut on his stomach. _That was_ _probably_ _when his flames awakened_ , Shiro thought, reflecting on the incident. Rin had been acting rather strange that evening, almost excited about something other than his injury. There were no other signs of demons, so they passed to the next site.

What they saw was an old playground. It was a bit broken down, and a slightly away from the main road, which afforded it some semblance of privacy. The two walked around to the back. _Bingo!_ Mephisto bent down, swiping his fingers against a black splotch. He sniffed the tips of his fingers. "Rot. Quite strong, really. I'd guess that one of his high-ranking flunkies or Astaroth himself came here within the last couple hours."

The priest sat down heavily. Rin was gone. _Rin was gone._ How could he have let this happen? He had promised. He had promised Yuri, and yet...and Yukio. Shiro rested his head in his hands, defeated. Mephisto was looking out at the road with a calculating frown on his face.

"Perhaps I could help break the news to young Yukio?" the demon offered. "He does know about the whole...you know...demon-thing?"

Shiro nodded in the affirmative. "Excellent! That will make things so much easier, then. Well, up we go," he said, hoisting Shiro to his feet unexpectedly. He stumbled. When he had caught his balance, Mephisto was already a few meters away, looking back. "Aren't you coming?"

They made their way in silence to the church. They opened the door quietly, entering the hall. To his surprise, Yukio was waiting for him, already having dressed in his pajamas. The boy looked up expectantly at Shiro, his eyes' slight widening the only signs of surprise at Mephisto's outlandish and somewhat unexpected appearance. The two adults sat on the bench across from Yukio.

"Yukio," Shiro began, "This is Mephisto Pheles, also known as Johann Faust V or Samael. And yes, he is a demon," he added before Yukio could interrupt. "I want you to listen closely to what I have to say, and wait until I'm done to interrupt." Shiro paused for a moment, then continued, sure of the boy's attention. However, Mephisto had a different idea.

"Your brother was kidnapped this afternoon." The demon interrupted.

"What? Why?" Yukio demanded, forgetting Shiro's instruction. The Paladin pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.

"That was not the best way to break the news, Mephisto," he said. "However, that is essentially correct. He was kidnapped because he awakened his power." When Yukio looked like he was about to interrupt again, Shiro continued. "His power that he inherited from his true father, the King of Demons, Satan himself."

Yukio's face went slack, and Shiro felt bad for the young boy he considered his son. "Yes, your true father too.

"Your mother, Yuri Egin, was an exorcist with a radical way of thinking. She believed that we would have more success if we tried to make peace with demons, rather than fight them. For some reason, because of this, she came into contact with Satan and discovered that her body was resistant to the blue flames and would not break down like others' bodies would. Somehow she became pregnant.

"The Vatican was afraid that it would result in the birth of a second Satan, which it did, in a way, with Rin. So they sent me to kill you. However, I couldn't kill either of you. You were both just babies. Your mother survived just long enough to tell me your names and to charge me with your care. She died shortly thereafter, weakened from the difficult birth and exposure to the cold. Mephisto arrived just as she died, offering to seal Rin's power until he was old enough to protect himself. Because of her death and what he thought was the death of his children, Satan decided to punish the exorcist order by killing a large number of exorcists in an event known as 'the Blue Night'. Since then, the Vatican has grown increasingly paranoid against demons."

"So, was he kidnapped by the Vatican?" Yukio asked nervously. Even at his age, he realized the outcome of that possibility.

"Fortunately, no," Mephisto interrupted. "Though unfortunately, he was taken by Astaroth, one of the demon kings. Which means that he is now in Gehenna. I believe he'll be treated as royalty there because he inherited the blue flames, but I could be wrong. Just keep in mind, demon culture is different from humans'. When, or rather if, he comes back, he'll be...different."

"Well then, I'll rescue him." Yukio asserted.

Mephisto laughed outright, Shiro looking on incredulously. "And how are you going to do that, young human?"

"I'm gonna become an exorcist.

* * *

Rin groggily opened his eyes, rubbed them and blinked. The next second he yelped, scooting back until he fell out of his bed. _There was a guy right in his face!_ The seven-year-old sat on the floor, looking up at the strange figure of another, older boy on his bed. Although, he supposed the other was actually a demon, and probably a lot older than he thought. His eyes were immediately drawn to the spike of green hair on the others head. The two stared at each other.

After a few moments, Rin decided the other demon wouldn't attack him. "Who are you?" he ventured.

The other demon flipped off the bed and crouched on the floor in front of Rin. He swirled a lollipop around his mouth before pulling it out with a pop. "Amaimon."

He didn't say anything more, so Rin tried another question. "What are you doing here?"

"Big brother told me you were interesting. I don't see it."

"Umm, okay..."

Amaimon pulled the lollipop out and offered it to Rin. "Do you want a lick?"

Rin looked at the lollipop. It was slimy with Amaimon's spit. "Um, no thanks."

And without further ado, Amaimon jumped out the window. Rin ran over to the window, but the other demon had vanished. What a weird guy. He guessed he was okay, though, because he had offered him a lick of his lollipop. Rin heard a noise behind him, and whipped around. An older-looking demon had entered his room. He was clad in a black long-sleeved shirt and trousers, matching his oil-black hair. There were even iridescent streaks in it, too.

"Good morning, Prince Rin," he said. "My name is Thaziel and - why are you leaning out of the window?"

Rin stared uncomprehendingly at the new arrival, finally snapping out of his daze to answer the question. "Some guy named Amaimon came and said some wierd stuff and just left," he said.

Thaziel nodded in understanding. "Amaimon is one of your older brothers, Rin. He is the demon king of Earth. Why he seems 'weird' to you is because some demons do not communicate in a way understandable to humans. He most likely considered you too ignorant and weak to be bothered with.

"It does make sense, though. After all, you have just arrived from the human world, no? That is why I have been assigned as your, for lack of a better word, tutor."

"What are you going to teach me? And why did you say 'Prince' Rin?" Rin questioned, curious.

"I said Prince Rin' because as a son of Lord Satan that is the title you deserve. And to answer your second question, I will be teaching you many things. The demon language, demon culture, and the most important thing, how to fight."

"Fighting? But I'm not allowed - Dad said it was bad to fight other people."

"Prince Rin, you are a demon now, in a demon's world. Demons fight, so you have to learn to fight."

"Okay..." Rin agreed hesitantly.

"First, though," Thaziel started, "we have to get you properly attired. We can't have you wandering around looking like a human, after all." Thaziel then brought a pile of clothes out from the hallway. He threw them to Rin, who turned around and changed. He inspected his reflection in the window. His new outfit consisted of a blue shirt, the same color as his flames, with sleeves that went just past his elbows. He also wore dark grey pants that stopped just above the boots that were now on his feet. The most interesting, and kind of awkward, part was the crown he was handed. He held it in his hand, looking at it.

"Do I really have to wear this?" he asked. Yesterday, he had been at school with Yukio. Today, he was suddenly the prince of an entire nation he knew nothing about. He swallowed in uncertainty.

"Yes. You will be required to wear the crown at all times you are outside of your personal chambers. It marks you as Lord Satan's heir." Rin thought Thaziel looked slightly amused. He scowled.

"Fine." Rin placed the crown on his head. It was actually surprisingly light, but then again it was pretty thin. He examined his reflection in the mirror and begrudgingly admitted that the crown really did make him look a bit more like a prince, but... _Actually, I kind of look like I'm dressed in pajamas_... After a moment, he turned again and addressed Thaziel. "What next?"

"We will start your fighting lessons next. These will take place in the arena. You will be learning unarmed combat first, and in the future we will add the sword and other weapons."

Rin nodded hesitantly. Thaziel turned to open the door, waiting for Rin to exit the room. Luckily, Rin remembered the way to his room from the arena that Satan had shown him, and traced it backwards. It was a huge stone structure built in an oval shape. There were lots of seats around the main floor going up, like a stadium. The main floor was covered in sand. He stopped when he realized he didn't know what they were going to do there. He looked sheepishly back at Thaziel, who smiled amusedly at him.

"Good job finding your way here, young Prince. I am now going to show you the room we will use for practicing. We're actually quite close. Just down the hallway on the left." He led Rin to a smaller room with a dirt floor and a rack of weapons on one wall.

"So are you gonna show me lots of cool moves? Like how to beat up bad guys and stuff, with cool punches and chops and twisty kicks?"

Thaziel laughed. Rin pouted. "It's not funny, I was asking a serious question!"

"Today you will be learning how to fall properly without injuring yourself. After that, I will teach you a set of strengthening exercises you will perform every day. If you grasp the concepts quickly, I might be able to move of to basic hand strikes tomorrow."

Rin's face fell. "So I won't get to learn cool moves?"

"You will, just not yet. First you need learn control and build up your physical capabilities."

Rin sighed heavily. " _Fine_."

* * *

Thaziel retreated to his own personal quarters, having put Rin to bed. "He could have been our son," he told the small portrait on the desk next to his bed. The demon in the portrait remained mute, only smiling her smile, frozen in the painting he had made just a few months before her death at Satan's hands.


	4. Chapter 4: Specialization

**Disclaimer: Anything** **recognizable belongs to Kazue Kato.**

 **Yay! I only had six hours in the plane to kill, so lucky you, a** **double update!**

* * *

"So, you've passed the exwire exam. It will be time to choose your Meister soon. Have you given it any thought?" Shiro asked Yukio. It had been seven months since Yukio had decided to become an exorcist; seven months since Rin had been taken.

"Yeah, actually. I re-read the summaries of each specific Meister and narrowed it down to two. I can't decide between those two, though." the now eight-year-old replied. The twins' birthday had come and gone two months previous. It hadn't been as happy as years previous, as Rin's absence had been felt deeply that day.

"Which two are you thinking about?" Shiro asked, curious. Most children had a hard time choosing one thing if various paths were made available. For Yukio to already have narrowed it down to two...

"Dragoon and Doctor." he replied, brow furrowed. Shiro raised an eyebrow at the interesting decision.

"And how did you decide that?"

"Well, I can't be a Tamer because I have Satan's blood, so if I tried something really bad could come, right?

"I don't want to be a Knight, because Rin is the one who is going to use a sword. Plus, I'm less strong. And I need a way to fight, so I chose Dragoon. And that way, me and Rin can back each other up if we fight.

"I don't want to be an Aria, because I'm not very good at memorizing passages. It's easier to memorize facts, so Doctor works better.

"I'm gonna focus on Dragoon for now because I want to learn to fight so I can go on missions and get practice."

Shiro smiled, impressed. "You've really thought this through, haven't you?"

Yukio grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, I guess."

* * *

Rin could feel Thaziel watching him as he crushed his opponent. Once the opponent was on the ground, Rin turned.

"How was that?" he asked.

Thaziel sent him a critical look. A second later he smiled slightly and nodded. Rin grinned. In the seven months since he had arrived in Gehenna, his combat training had progressed to the point where he was able to take out most lower-level demons barehanded. Thaziel told him that his progress was actually really impressive, that he was learning twice as fast as Thaziel and Satan had expected. The fight today would determine whether or not Rin would be able to start learning to handle swords. Luckily for him, he had passed. _Well, maybe it wasn't entirely luck. I have gotten pretty good. I even impressed Satan..._

Rin still wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. On one hand, this was _Satan_ , King of all Demons, the ultimate bad guy. On the other, he had met his birth father. He should feel some loyalty to him, right? He hadn't done anything really bad that he knew of, except tempting old people in the Bible. Besides, he was learning so many cool things. Learning the demon language was easier than learning English in school had ever been. He was also still learning Japanese, because Japan was a place with a lot of missions. Plus, Yukio would still know Japanese even if they learned different languages.

Rin's attention was brought back to the present when Thaziel returned with a long, wrapped object. "Is that a sword?" he blurted excitedly.

Thaziel smiled indulgently. "It is. Would you like to hold it?"

Rin nodded eagerly before reverently taking the sword in his hand. He unwrapped it and his face fell. "It's wooden!" he exclaimed indignantly.

"Well, you can't very well start off with a metal sword. I would be executed if you accidentally cut your head and died." Thaziel looked thoughtful. "Another limb, however, you might be able to regrow...do you really want to try a metal sword that badly?"

Rin paled and shook his head. Even _if_ he could, he didn't want to know what that would feel like. "Um, I'll stick with the wooden one for now."

"As you wish, my Prince." Rin had a sneaking suspicion that Thaziel was secretly laughing at him. "Now, to start the lesson. Hold your sword up - no, a little higher..."

* * *

He was walking through the hallway after his first sword lesson by himself; Thaziel had gone to report to his father. He was he was looking down as he walked, wondering absently about what Yukio might have been doing - was learning to fight without Rin there to fight for him? But due to Rin's inattention, he ran into someone and fell back onto his tail.

He looked up, a scowl on his face because of the pain radiating from his sensitive appendage.

There were two strangers. One had dark blue hair and pale skin. He was wearing dark blue and white suit. The other was a bit taller, with green hair and almost white eyes, which looked a bit strange to Rin. The green-haired one smiled and helped Rin up, afterwards brushing sand off of his green and white suit from the collision. He introduced himself.

"Hello, I'm Azazel, King of Spirits. You are Rin, are you not? It is a pleasure to finally meet you."

Rin, still feeling apprehensive due to the other demon standing silently, shot Azazel a curious look. Azazel interpreted it correctly and added, "That is Egyn, King of Water. I suppose you might not get along well, as you have opposite elements, water and fire, you see."

"Umm...thanks..." Rin said nervously. Despite being thankful to Azazel for being friendly, Egyn was creeping him out, just staring at him like that. Rin felt as if the King of Water had wanted to eat him alive. He fled.

"He is a strange child," Azazel commented, watching Rin run.

"Hn." was all Egyn offered in response.

As Rin fled, he admitted to himself that Azazel was all right. He seemed pretty nice for a demon. Egyn, on the other hand, was _scary_. He didn't want to get on _his_ bad side.

* * *

"Yukio, I want you to meet your new training partner." Shiro announced. Yukio looked up, trying to make his face as serious as possible. He couldn't keep the shock off his face when he heard his new partners response and saw her outfit, which was rather sparse. He immediately turned, embarrassed.

"Aw, come on, Shiro, you didn't tell me 'e was still a baby," she complained, lounging on a bench on the side of the room. Yukio looked again, ignoring her clothing and instead focusing on her hair, which was almost as distracting. It was dyed a pinkish-red that bled into yellow at the tips.

"Don't be like that Shura," Shiro said. Yukio turned his attention back to the man beside him. "He's an exwire too. Just practice with him, is all I'm saying. He's training to be a Dragoon." _So her name was Shura._

"Just because you taught me doesn't mean I'm gonna teach 'im. We've even got differen' Meisters!" The girl protested.

"I didn't say _teach_ him, I said _practice_ with him. There's a difference." Shiro said.

"Well, still, how am I gonna do that? Like I said, differen' Meisters. I can't exactly _spar_ with 'im, y'know?"

"I'm sure you can figure it out. Maybe competitions, like who is better at hitting the target balls in that practice range over there? That would test both of your skills. Well, I'm off, important Paladin business to attend to!"

"Wait, dad-!" Yukio's protests were ineffective; Shiro had already left. He turned to face Shura awkwardly. "So, I'll just be practicing over here..." he trailed off awkwardly when he noticed that Shura was staring at him. "What?"

"I have a feeling we're going to be best friends!" she exclaimed. Yukio paled. _Oh no._

"You said we had different Meisters," he said, abruptly changing the topic. "You know mine is Dragoon, but I don't know yours. What is it?"

"Knight. I've even got my very own demon sword," she replied proudly. "I've been training for several years already. How long have you been trainin', baby face?"

Yukio flushed. "I just started, so I'm not very good yet. And my name's Yukio, not 'baby face'."

"Whatever ya say, baby face." She said, grinning. Yukio groaned. This was going to be a nightmare. _Why did father leave me with this crazy girl?_ Whatever. He walked over to the range and unholstered his gun, switching off the safety and aiming it toward the target in one of the stalls. He aimed, then fired, missing the target entirely.

"Why'd ya flinch?" Shura called from the other side of the room. _She was watching?_ He assumed she had something else she would practice.

"I didn't flinch!" he yelled back, annoyed.

"Yes ya did! Yer actin' like yer afraid of yer gun!" she remarked loudly.

"That's because I'm new at it!" he protested.

"You ain't gonna get anywhere if yer afraid. What's it gonna do to ya? The only thing is that it might kick a little, or make a loud noise. So what? Ya got earplugs, don't ya? And you'll just hafta get used to the kick."

"Alright, fine." Yukio took a deep breath. He lined the sights up with the center of the target. He braced himself, and ... "Keep yer arms loose! Don't get so tense! Geez, what a moron." Yukio scowled, but took her advice anyway. He relaxed his arms, taking another deep breath. _I will hit the target_. He shot.

He clicked the safety back on and went out to the target. There was a small hole two rings away from the center. "Look Shura, I got it! I hit the target!"

She rolled her eyes. "You don't have to sound so excited, ya know. Ya didn't even make it in the bulls-eye."

Yukio frowned. "I still got it. And I'm only eight. How old are you?"

"I'm only eighteen, brat. And I'm already a full-fledged Knight."

"If you're as good as you say you are, show me," he challenged.

Shura smirked. "All right then, but you asked for it. _Receiving 8 princesses, sever the snake!_ " From that she was able to pull a sword right out from her body! She extended her arm until the entire sword had appeared. "Watch this!" she shouted, and proceeded to perform a series of moves with her sword, yelling out what each strike would do to an enemy. "Disembowel! Decapitate! Disarm!" It looked like she was dancing. After she finished, she assumed her slouching position again, this time resting her blade on her shoulder. "Whaddya think of _that_ , huh, baby face?"

He made a face at the nickname, but agreed with her. The performance had been really cool. And she had given him good advice earlier. Maybe she wouldn't be that bad of a partner after all.


	5. Chapter 5: Growing

**Disclaimer: Blue Exorcist belongs to Kazue Kato, though I do own copies of some of the volumes...**

* * *

"He's Lower Second Class already, and only nine years old!" Shiro bragged proudly. Yukio rolled his eyes. It seriously wasn't that impressive, considering that he started training earlier. Then again, he was one of the youngest exorcists in history, so maybe Shiro wasn't exaggerating as much as Yukio thought. He stood stiffly, feeling a bit awkward.

"Maybe he'd like to meet my daughter? They're about the same age," Moriyama, the lady his dad was talking to, suggested. "She's working in the garden."

"You hear that, Yukio? Go meet her daughter!"

"Uh, yes, Dad." He agreed hesitantly. His dad nodded encouragingly and he grinned. Of course, his dad was trying to set him up. _Of course._ He rolled his eyes, but headed outside anyway. He walked out of the shop, looking around again. Sure enough, there was a girl kneeling next to a patch if freshly upturned dirt, an old lady sitting next to her.

"E-excuse me..."

The girl and her grandmother turned suddenly, surprised at the new voice. The old lady squinted suspiciously at him, contrasting with girls wide eyes.

"Who are you?" The old lady asked.

"My name's Okumura Yukio. I came with my dad, but he sent me out here. It's nice to meet you," he greeted politely, bowing.

The grandmother smiled. "What a nice young man!" Yukio sighed in relief. "This is Shiemi, and I'm her grandmother. How about you help us in the garden?" She asked, but he felt like it was less of a question and more of an order. Old people were scary.

He sat down next to them, watching Shiemi place a plant into the hole she had dug. "What plant is that?" He asked out of a combination of curiosity and a wish to dispel the awkward silence.

"It's Mr. Sancho!" Shiemi said shyly. He was just confused.

"Mr. Sancho?"

"Aloe," the grandmother explained. "Shiemi sometimes makes up names for her plants. It makes them easier to remember." Yukio made a noise of understanding, but Shiemi still blushed in embarrassment. He smiled.

"What is so special about Mr. Sancho?" He asked.

The grandmother nudged Shiemi, prompting her to answer. "I-It can help with Temptaints from some demons..."

"Oh yeah! I remember! We had to learn that in our Demon Pharmaceuticals class," Yukio recalled. "I liked that class, it was really interesting. Do you know other healing plants?"

"Umm, there are a lot, but yes. I think I want to become a doctor when I get older, so I have to know a lot about plants, right?" Shiemi asked.

"I think so. I wanted to be a Doctor too, because my older brother...when I was littler I used to get picked on sometimes. But Rin, he'd march right up to those bullies and tell them to leave me alone. He got hurt a lot because he was fighting my battles for me, so I wanted to help him out." Yukio explained sadly. Thinking about Rin...it hurt. Talking about him to others hurt too. It almost made it seem as if Rin would be gone forever.

"You can still be a Doctor. Doesn't your brother get hurt a lot?" Yukio winced at the grandmother's question.

"Rin was...he was kidnapped...by a demon. I'm becoming an exorcist so I can get him back," he announced determinedly. "That's why I decided to be a Dragoon instead."

Shiemi looked close to tears. "I'm sorry, Yukio-sensei."

"Yukio-sensei?! I'm the same age as you, only nine! I shouldn't be called 'sensei'!" He said, startled.

She thought for a moment, her grandmother looking on in amusement. "How about I call you 'Yuki-chan', then?"

He sighed. "I guess so. I'll call you Shiemi-chan then, is that okay?" She nodded eagerly.

"Yukio-kun, don't you know that you can specialize in more than one thing?" the old lady said.

"What do you mean?" He asked, frowning.

"You can be both a Dragoon and a Doctor."

"I can? Really?" The old lady nodded, and he almost whooped, but remembered that he was an exorcist now. "Thanks for the information, Moriyama-san." Despite his best efforts to look professional, he grinned, his joy bursting.

"Yukio! It's time to go!" He heard his dad yell from farther up the hill.

"I appreciate the company, but I have to leave. I hope to talk with you again! Please excuse me," he said, before hurrying to where Shiro stood waiting for him.

"How'd it go?" Shiro asked, obviously meaning his interaction with Shiemi, but he didn't care.

"Is it true that I can specialize in Dragoon and Doctor at the same time?" He asked.

"Sure-"

"I'm going to start Doctor right away then!" Yukio decided, leading the way down the hill.

"Whatever you say, Yukio."

* * *

Rin had met his sixth demon brother, Beelzebub, about a year after his arrival in Gehenna. That had been six months previously.

 _He was walking around the outside if Satan's castle, bored, when he suddenly noticed someone else next to him. He looked young, maybe early twenties if he'd been a human. He almost looked like a human, too, except his eyes were dark brown. His whole eye. Like Amaimon, his black trousers and brown cloak had been tattered. What really threw Rin off though was the multitude of insects that were crawling all over the new person. Cockroaches in his hair, termites on his arms, and ants in his trouser pockets. The demon introduced himself._

 _"Beelzebub. One of the eight demon kings, King of Insects. Nice to meet you, little brother." Beelzebub then dissolved into insects which all fled. Rin just stood and watched, a bit perturbed by the sight._

That had been the first and only time he had spoken to Beelzebub, or even seen him. The others he had seen a couple times since, but not really talked to them.

He turned his attention back to what he was supposed to be doing; practicing Latin at Thaziel's request. He was sitting on his bed, reading a beginner's book, when he heard a knock at his window, interrupting his focus again. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he looked over and saw a demon's head and shoulders framed upside-down in his window. The demon knocked again, so Rin opened the window. The stranger flipped himself around and slid into the room, landing gracefully crouched on Rin's bed in front of the open book.

He had maroon hair flaring up with red flames in random spots. He grinned. "C'mon, li'l bro. Follow me," he said.

From this Rin was able to deduce that he was Iblis, King if Fire, the demon brother closest to his age after Amaimon.

"Where are we going?" Rin whispered, following Iblis out of the window.

"Just c'mon," Iblis whispered back. He seemed different from what Rin was used to. Most of the demons were either super formal or straight-up didn't make sense. Iblis talked like a human teenager. Rin smiled as he clambered out the window. He liked Iblis already.

After a few minutes of climbing down the walls, they reached the ground. Iblis took off running, Rin not far behind. After about ten or so minutes they reached a cliff face.

"What are we doing here?" Rin was really confused.

"Watch and learn, Rin." With that, Iblis pushed at a particular spot at the base of the cliff, and part of it started moving. As it scraped along the ground, a tunnel leading further into the cliff was revealed. A cave?

The entrance gave way to a large room, about twice as wide as the cave. The cave was surprisingly well-furnished; a red rug covered part if the floor and there was a light grey couch next to a bookshelf full of books from Assiah. There was also a cupboard on the wall opposite the bookshelf that Iblis opened, showing the contents. Somehow he had managed to get human snacks, which made Rin's mouth water. Demon food just wasn't very good.

"Welcome to my hideout, Rin. It's pretty sweet, if I do say so myself."

Rin looked at him, confused. "Why are you being so nice to me?" he asked the older demon.

Iblis turned with a sheepish look. "See, we're both fire demons, and you haven't been in Gehenna long enough to be corrupted by Father, so I figured you'd be all right. You're welcome here anytime you like."

Rin was ecstatic. "Iblis, you are now my new favorite brother."

* * *

Iblis was still Rin's favorite, despite the multitude of others he had met in his year and a half of living in Gehenna. Thaziel had kept training him, and Rin now could recognize almost all the different types of demons he saw coming in and out of Satan's court and around the castle. Thaziel sometimes quizzed him on that, and how best to combat each type.

His weapons and combat training was going well, too. He was able to fight most lower-level demons with the sword, but none of the practice swords could channel his flames properly. His unarmed combat was improving by leaps and bounds, too. He had learned the hard way, a few months into his training, that his tail was very sensitive. It did not feel good to get it pulled, and he finally understood why Thaziel had suggested he keep his tail hidden. He winced, just thinking about it was painful.

He wondered if he would ever get to go to Assiah again. He missed them- Shiro, Yukio, the other priests.

* * *

 **Sorry for the delay, my faithful readers. Moving is a pain in the butt.**


	6. Chapter 6: The Definition of an Exorcist

**Disclaimer: I don't own Blue Exorcist.**

 **A/N: Sorry for the really long wait. The movers killed our WiFi (they managed to blow the circuit the router and cable modem were on), and then I went to a week-long summer camp in the middle of nowhere that doesn't allow phones.**

* * *

Rin narrowed his eyes as he surveyed his eight-foot-tall opponent. Thick muscles; a broad, thick body; large feet; bulky horns. His opponent would be strong, that was for sure. He might also be fast, too, and that iron-studded war club the beast was carrying would be a pain to deal with. However, he was just like countless others Rin had fought over the years and Rin wasn't worried. With his small size, he would have an agility far superior to the giant demons', and Thaziel had often told Rin that his combat intelligence was near genius.

The match was begun at the sound of a horn. Rin rushed in immediately, tacking back and forth so as to confuse the other demon, and as the 'giant' took a step forward, Rin slid underneath his legs and sprang up behind him. Rin used his opponent's leg as a springboard and jumped, landing square on the massive shoulders. From there he unsheathed his sword and lopped off the horns the large demon seemed so proud of. The demon howled in pain and rage and flung Rin off, the young demon landing on his feet a few meters away from the lumbering giant.

Rin smirked. The fight was won when the opponent lost their confidence, and by destroying his horns, Rin had shattered the other demon's pride.

The large demon charged at Rin at an impressive speed. Impressive for a demon that size, that is. Rin was far faster and dodged, slashing his enemy's knee as he passed. The other demon howled again and turned, this time changing his strategy.

The large demon snarled at Rin. "I don't care if you're the prince, you are going to die." He approached slowly, swinging the club back and forth to deter Rin from attacking from the front. That was fine. He hadn't spent an entire three years doing nothing, after all.

When his opponent was within range of Rin, the large demon swung and Rin jumped straight up, mirroring his own move from earlier. Again he landed on the demon's shoulder but this time used the hilt of his sword to knock the demon out. Rin hopped off his opponent's now inert body. He walked over to Thaziel.

"So, how did I do?" Rin asked smugly.

Thaziel rolled his eyes. "You did very well, Prince Rin. Only three years of training and here you are, defeating higher-level demons. Very impressive."

"I'm ten, not five, Thaziel. I know you're being sarcastic."

"On the contrary," his tutor replied. "I believe you are progressing well in your training. You are a competent fighter both in unarmed combat and now with a sword."

"So? I don't want to just be 'competent', that sounds like I'm not very good at all. I want to be awesome at fighting so I can beat up all the bad guys that were hurting Yukio."

Thaziel laughed. "All in good time, Prince Rin. However, that is a good lead-in to what I wanted to tell you next."

Rin grew curious as Thaziel's face darkened slightly. "As you know," he said, starting to walk back to Rin's room, "you will most likely be going on missions within the next few years. I will have to start teaching you how to combat exorcists."

"Combat exorcists? Why? I think my dad might have been an exorcists, but he was a good guy, I remember that."

"As much as you might remember your human life, Rin, you are a demon now, living in Gehenna, not to mention your heritage. I will be dangerous for you if you go into Assiah and encounter an exorcist and are unprepared to fight them." Rin nodded, hearing Thaziel's tone. His tutor was really serious, almost like he was...worried?

The arrived at Rin's room and Thaziel waited as Rin took a bath and changed into clean clothes. After that they made their way to the kitchen; fighting always made Rin hungry.

"Demons have several weaknesses and exorcists find any way they can to exploit those weaknesses."

"Exploit?"

"Take advantage of."

"Oh."

"As I was saying, one of a demon's weaknesses is a fatal verse. Do you know what a fatal verse is, Rin?"

"Well, it's a verse, right? So it's probably a scripture, right?" Rin guessed.

"That's right." Thaziel confirmed. "A fatal verse is what exorcists use to exorcise demons, meaning they make them go back to Gehenna from possessing someone or something in Assiah. Also, if the verse is strong enough and the demon weak enough, a fatal verse can even kill them. An exorcists that uses fatal verses is called an Aria. They have to memorize lots of verses."

"Do I have a fatal verse, Thaziel?" Rin asked.

"Luckily for you Rin," Thaziel responded, "you are half-human, so I doubt you will have a fatal verse. You won't be able to be exorcised in Assiah either as long as you can use a Gehenna gate, because you will be in your real body."

"That's cool!"

"There's also Knights, which use traditional weapons like swords and staffs. If you were an exorcist, you would be a Knight. There's a Dragoon, which uses guns. A Tamer uses demons they summon. However, if a Tamer's will wavers, the demons they summon can turn against them. Remember that. Last is a Doctor. They don't fight as often unless they have another area of expertise. The Doctors heal other exorcists. Sometimes they have chemicals or herbs that can poison a demon, so watch out for that."

"That's a lot of different types. How would I fight each one?"

"For a Knight, it would be just like fighting another demon that has a weapon. It would be just like the practice matches you have been doing to train."

"But what about Doctors and Tamers and Dragoons?"

"For a Dragoon, they are better at long-range fighting so if you get up close they won't be fast enough to kill you. If they are far away, try to pinpoint their location and move out of their sight, like behind a tree or building. For a Tamer, try to destroy the exorcist's confidence, their own summoned demons will turn on them. If they don't, knock out the demons if possible and then go for the Tamer. For Doctors, just go straight for them. You won't have as bad of a reaction as other demons to what they carry because of your human heritage."

"Oh." Rin sniffed. "I smell food!" He yelled, and took off down the corridor.

Thaziel chuckled. "He's still such a child sometimes."

* * *

Later that night, Satan summoned Rin to his quarters. Rin shrugged and went; Satan liked to talk to him every few weeks so Rin didn't think it was anything big. He put his nice clothes on, not the training outfit he'd been wearing earlier.

Thaziel looked him over critically before he left the room. "It isn't becoming of a prince to look scattered," he'd said. Rin just nodded, impatient to get to the evening's conversation with Satan.

He brushed off Thaziel's hands and walked dignifiedly towards his father's quarters.

The talk started as it usually did, with Satan asking Rin what he'd been learning with Thaziel.

"I beat an oni today, father. It was not difficult, though Thaziel said I still had a lot to learn."

Rin watched his father's face and saw his father's smile.

"That's good, that's good," Satan said.

"Thaziel also told me more about exorcists. They seem a lot more organized than we are but weaker. Only some of them can fight. Isn't that dumb?"

The tightening of Satan's knuckles when he mentioned exorcists went unnoticed by Rin.

"Speaking of exorcists...I want to tell you, Rin, why exorcists are so bad."

"Oh yeah, Thaziel said he didn't want to tell me but I think it was because he knew you were going to tell me." Rin interrupted.

"That is correct," Satan said. "I am going to tell you the story of your birth."

Rin's eyes grew wide and he leaned forward in his seat. This was a story he had never heard and wanted to know, but he wondered what it had to do with exorcists. He decided he wouldn't talk until the end of the story.

"As you know, my power overwhelms any vessel I try to possess in Assiah. One day, I came upon an exception to the rule. It was an exorcist, a girl named Yuri. Over time, we fell in love, and your mother became pregnant with you. Other exorcists found out and tried to kill her. I couldn't do anything about it. Eventually they succeeded, right after you were born."

Satan took a deep breath, a sorrowful look on his face. "That night, not only was my love killed but my son was given to an exorcist who raised him to be a pesky human. In revenge, I killed them. Any of the exorcists who tried to harm you or her, I killed them. I killed so many of those filthy exorcists-"

At this Satan paused, calming himself from his previous manic glee and replacing the sadness that he wore in the beginning. Rin was a bit disturbed by the sudden change in emotion. He was also curious about the fact that Satan hadn't mentioned Yukio once, even though he was also his son.

"The point is, Rin, that you can never trust an exorcist. That concludes our talk for tonight."

Rin got up and left at Satan's obvious dismissal. He had a lot to think about, namely, that several elements of Satan's story didn't make sense. For one, what was with his crazy happiness when he was talking about killing all those exorcists? Rin understood revenge, as a demon, that was a very important concept. But revenge was an eye for an eye, wasn't it? It would have made sense if Satan had just killed two or three exorcists, that was even. But hundreds? And he seemed so excited about it too; it was a bit frightening.

And then he had said never to trust an exorcist, but hadn't he also said that Rin's mother was an exorcist? If you love someone, you had to trust them, right? And he hadn't mentioned Yukio once. Was it just because Yukio was human? That wasn't fair. He was still Satan's son too. It didn't make sense.

He fled to Thaziel, who was still in Rin's rooms, waiting for him. He must have made a weird face because Thaziel asked him what happened, looking concerned.

"I don't know. My father told me about what happened when I was born but he said some things that don't make sense."

"What were those?" Thaziel asked.

"Well, first he was talking about how he killed a lot of the exorcists but he looked so happy about it. I understand one or two but hundreds is too much. Also, he said my mom was an exorcist but he said to never trust an exorcist. And he didn't mention Yukio once!"

Thaziel nodded understandingly, prompting Rin to continue and sort out his thoughts.

"First off, you said that you have to trust somebody to love them."

"I did say that, yes," Thaziel agreed. He could now see what was bothering Rin.

"And so my father didn't love my mom. But if he didn't love her, why were Yukio and I born?"

Thaziel asked him a question to speed up Rin's thinking process. "Was there anything special about your mother that Satan told you about? Something that could help him come to Assiah?"

Rin gasped as he figured it out. "She didn't get hurt by his flames so he was able to posses her! So you mean he just had me so that he could have someone to possess in case she died? And that's why he doesn't like Yukio..."

"That is why you were taken here. He wishes you to take your mother's place as a vessel for him if he wants to go to Assiah, as well as a potential weapon against the exorcist order. However, you didn't just gain the flame resistance but the flames."

"What's so special about that?" Rin asked glumly. "I'm just a tool now."

"On the contrary," Thaziel said, and Rin's head snapped back up. "The flames give you power. In time, you might even be able to challenge your father. That's why he told you that story and is allowing you to be his heir. He hopes to win you over."

"I can't do that now that I know how he is! He'd make me kill people for no reason!"

"It will be okay, Prince Rin. You can pretend you're a spy. Just don't let Lord Satan know about your dislike for him. Eventually you will be sent on missions to Assiah by yourself and you'll have a break from him."

"But what if he tries to posses me?" Rin asked.

"He might, but I doubt it," Thaziel answered. "He most likely has a long-term plan and going around possessing you would not be conducive to carrying it out because it would show his hand far too soon. But if you wish, I can start teaching you mental defense techniques. It would keep your mind safe from possession."

"Thanks, Thaziel."

* * *

 **Apologies to YesaniChan I didn't put more Iblis in and sorry the chapter's short (I dunno if it's actually shorter than my others but it feels short) and this was mainly a plot point I had to get in. I'll do it next time, or post a one-shot or something.**


	7. Chapter 7: Big Brothers

**Disclaimer: I don't own Blue Exorcist. All rights go to Kazue Kato.**

 **A/N: I had a lot of time on my hands (also known as when your four siblings go on a trip with your mom it's a lot easier to work on your stories). Also, I've found that the Reborn music acts as an excellent inspiration for me. Just wanted to let you know what goes through my head at 2:04 AM.**

* * *

"Thaziel!" Rin exclaimed. "Father's letting me go on my first mission to Assiah!"

"Good job, Rin," Thaziel replied. "It's because he noticed your growing skill that you were allowed on a mission so soon. What are you going to do?"

"Well, it isn't a solo mission," Rin explained. "He's letting Iblis go with me because I don't have enough experience and I get along with Iblis the best so he'd be the best guide. Plus, he knows a lot about how to blend in with humans."

"What are you doing on the mission?" Thaziel asked again, bringing Rin back to the original topic of discussion.

"Oh yeah," Rin said. "It's actually just a training mission, and so I can get human clothes and some human money and stuff so I'm not so out of place when I go for later missions."

"Oh. Be safe then."

"I'll be fine, Thaziel. Don't be such a worrywart."

* * *

"Alright Rin. Observe the humans." Iblis instructed. The host he'd chosen had black hair, which seemed strange to Rin as he was used to Iblis' head being on fire all the time. He would have felt bad for the host, except he knew the guy would just think he'd been sleepwalking or something, no permanent harm done.

"I don't know Iblis, this is really weird." The two demons were crouching in the bushes of a park in the city. People would glance at them and make faces before walking past, and Rin was starting to feel uncomfortable. "Can we stop? People can see us."

"Aww, you're no fun," Iblis complained. "But fine. We'll head to an actual human clothing store so you don't get stared at. Stares are not good for trying to stay undercover."

Rin made a face at Iblis' back. He wondered whether Iblis just didn't think before talking or whether he was actually just dumb, but followed him anyway. They ended up in front of a clothes store. Rin was impressed that Iblis made it, due to his poor navigational skills.

Iblis kept trying to get a bunch of different clothes, and succeeded in making Rin try on almost half the clothes in the store. Rin let him, because it was kind of fun, even if he'd never say it to Iblis' face. They'd spent over an hour there before Rin picked out a couple shirts, some shorts, a belt and shoes.

"Why didn't you get anything with flames on them?" Iblis asked.

"I don't know," Rin replied. "Maybe that would make more people stare at me. And didn't you say earlier that stares _weren't good_ for staying undercover and avoiding exorcists?"

Iblis examined his fingernails. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Rin."

Rin huffed in annoyance. Iblis _totally_ knew what he was talking about. "Whatever. What next?"

Iblis grinned. Rin knew that meant nothing good. "Next is _money_ , baby brother. Follow my lead." He walked down the street until he found one with a 'help wanted' sign in the window. "Come with me." He walked into the store and looked around for an employee. He walked up to the first one they found – her name was Kiyoko – and asked her where he could find the manager. She pointed to the back and told them he was in an office.

"Thanks!" Iblis said cheerfully. Rin just gave her a small smile before following his brother.

They reached the manager's office and Iblis turned to him with a serious look on his face. "When we get in there, try to talk as little as possible. I'm going to tell him or her a story so just play along. Don't look surprised or confused, though sad or scared might be okay." Rin nodded. Iblis' instructions were easy enough to understand and follow. Iblis knocked on the door.

"Come in," they heard. Iblis pushed the door open and both demons entered. They sat down in chairs after the manager motioned towards them. "What could cause to fine young gentlemen such as yourselves to come visit an old man this morning?" The man asked.

"Well, you see sir, we were on our way to visit our father – our parents live separately, you see – and we lost our train fare. We saw the 'Help Wanted' sign in your window and wondered if you would allow us to work until we earned enough for train fare."

"Please, sir," Rin added. "I'm good at math, I could help." He made his face as pitiful-looking as he could.

The manager melted instantly. "Of course you can! I'll tell you what – the young man on the left," he said, pointing at Rin, "can help do some paperwork. You," he said, motioning towards Iblis, "can help load and unload the supply trucks. I;m expecting a large delivery in less than and hour. How does that sound?"

"That sounds great," Iblis said humbly. "Thank you so much, sir."

"I'll show you where you'll be working." The manager got up and led them out the door and down the hallway.

As Iblis got up to follow him, he whispered in Rin's ear, "And _that's_ how you get money."

* * *

After only a few hours of working, they were able to get just under a hundred dollars with the both of them.

"What are we gonna do with this, Iblis?" Rin asked.

Iblis grinned. "We have a few options. We could save some of it in the bank – did you ever have a bank account?"

"Um, yeah, hold on...I did. Fujimoto made me and Yukio both get one for some reason. It was just before I came to Gehenna, actually. And I think I know...yeah. I remember my password and stuff now."

"We can deposit some of it in the bank so you can have it in the future. The rest we'll spend on food!" Rin cheered. It had been a while since he'd had Assiahn food and he missed it. "Where should we go, Rin?" Iblis asked him.

"Um, anywhere with pancakes?"

"Yes, pancakes! If I remember right, there should be one just around the next corner..." They arrived five corners and three stops for directions later. After they finished their meal – the pancakes were delicious – they decided they should return to Gehenna. They had accomplished the basic objective of their mission.

As they walked toward the park they had arrived in, they passed a man in a dark double-breasted trench coat. Iblis pointed it out to him and said, "That's what most of the exorcist uniforms look like."

Rin nodded and studied the man wearing the coat. He was also wearing a cross necklace, almost certainly an exorcist. The man in question turned and his gaze met Rin's. Rin bared his teeth in an automatic response to the man's perceived threat. The man's eyes widened, and Rin realized what he'd done.

He turned and Iblis was there, grabbing ahold of his arm and dragging him away. "We gotta get out of here, _now_." They both ran back towards the Gate they had come through, conveniently hidden in a small alleyway a short distance from the park. Rin jumped in, Iblis abandoning his host simultaneously and the Gate closed over their heads, disappearing from Assiah a few short moments later.

* * *

Shiro got up when he heard a knock at the door. He opened it to reveal an exorcist, breathing rough. He'd been in a hurry to get there apparently. It was a shame, he'd have to postpone his and Yukio's job. "What is it?" He asked.

"I just saw a couple demons in the park. Strong ones." Shiro immediately grew serious. "How long ago was this?"

"Just a few minutes."

"What were their appearances?" That was the most important thing. That was a huge indicator of the type of demon they were dealing with.

"Humanoid. There were two. One was tall, black hair, orange eyes – I think the eye color was a sign of possession though. The other one was smaller – looked like he was about twelve years old, that is, if he were a human. Had unruly black hair and bright blue eyes. Pointy ears, bared his teeth at me. That's how I knew."

Shiro had snapped his head around when the exorcist mentioned the smaller demon. "The second one. He looked like a kid?"

"Yeah," the exorcist said. "I remember because I thought it was weird."

Shiro went to his desk and started sifting through papers. The exorcist wondered what he was looking for, until he held up a small piece of paper triumphantly. He couldn't make out the details, but it looked like a photo of some sort.

Shiro brought the photo over and held it out to the exorcist, who took it and examined it. It was of a young boy, probably seven or eight, who was scowling at the camera, and who also bore a striking resemblance to the young demon he had just seen.

"How did you get a picture of him? And younger, too?"

Shiro grinned and yelled. "Yukio! Come here!" In the meantime he turned back to the exorcist. "That was the demon you saw?"

"Yeah, there's no mistaking it," the man confirmed. "I just saw them in passing but if you hear of any demon activity in the area..."

"Thank you." Yukio appeared then, coming over to stand at Shiro's side.

"What is it, Dad? You sounded really excited."

Shiro motioned wildly at the man, who just watched, confused. Yukio was confused as well, but grew excited as well at Shiro's next exclamation. "He saw Rin!" He nearly yelled.

"Who's Rin?" The exorcist asked.

"Long story," Shiro said. "He's the younger demon you saw. He was born in Assiah and I took care of him for a while until he was taken to Gehenna. We're just glad he's alright. Now, can you tell us everything you saw?"

"Sure," the man agreed. "I was walking through the park near here and this kid – Rin – was staring at me. As soon as he realized I was looking at him, he bared his teeth at me, which was when I realized he was a demon because his canines were longer than usual and baring teeth is a demon thing. Anyways, I probably made some face because I was so surprised, and Rin turned to run away, probably. Then a teenage-looking demon - I think this one was a possession – grabbed him and started dragging him away. But after they'd gone a few meters the teenage one let go and Rin ran beside him."

Yukio smiled. "Rin's okay. I'm glad."

Shiro let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you for telling us that. We haven't heard anything about him in years."

The exorcist nodded. "Glad I could help, I guess. I'll just be leaving, then." Shiro let him out the door, and grinned at Yukio, who grinned back. He whooped in celebration, and the other priests in the chapel came to see what was going on.

"An exorcist came and told us he'd seen a couple demons in the park," Shiro explained, barely containing his excitement.

"Why are you so happy then?"

"Because one of them was Rin!" Yukio interrupted happily. The other priests burst out into cheers.

* * *

Rin collapsed in a heap after coming out of the Gehenna Gate. Iblis appeared right next to him a few moments later. "Come on, we gotta report."

The duo made their way to the meeting room to deliver their report to Satan. When that was done, they went to Rin's rooms. Thaziel met them at the door and asked about their mission.

"I think it went pretty well, besides that little incident at the end," Iblis offered.

"Yeah, me too!" Rin said. "Why couldn't we just stay in Assiah?"

Thaziel turned sharply. "Rin, you can't let anybody know that you don't support what Satan is doing. I know that from experience."

"Experience?" Iblis asked. He had always wondered about Thaziel's background. He felt that as Rin's older brother, it was his duty to make sure the people around him weren't threats.

"When I was younger," he began, "probably around Iblis' age, I met a female demon who later became my mate. One day she argued openly with one of the guards in the castle. The next morning she was gone. I looked everywhere for her, and then I heard a couple of guards talking about a public execution that was to happen in two days. I immediately realized what had happened. Sure enough, it was my mate who was killed and I could do nothing about it. Since then, I have waited patiently for an opportunity to strike back."

Iblis whistled, shocked. "That's seriously wrong. She didn't even attack them?"

"It was a verbal argument only."

"Pops really broke code there. _Not_ cool."

"So, Father is just a really horrible demon?"

"That about sums it up, yeah," Iblis agreed. Tears were slipping down Rin's face.

"I don't want to be Satan's son anymore. I mean, it was okay before, I was just uncomfortable with it, but now...I hate him. He does all these horrible things...what if I grow up to be like that?"

Iblis laughed and Thaziel managed a smile. "I doubt that, Prince Rin. The fact that you are scared of becoming that way proves that you will not, at least in any forseeable future."

Rin calmed down, and yawned. Thaziel, of course, noticed immediately. "It is time for bed, Prince Rin." Iblis chuckled.

"It's bedtime, baby bro. Goodnight, sleep tight, and I hope the bedbugs bite!"

"Hey!" Rin yelled indignantly, but Iblis had already escaped through the window. He yawned again and privately agreed that going to bed was probably what he should be doing.

"Night, Iblis!" He yelled out the window. A larger than normal flare of red light a bit away proved let Rin know that Iblis had heard him. He smiled and drew back from the window, allowing Thaziel to fuss over him.


	8. Chapter 8: Missions and Training

**Disclaimer: I don't own Blue Exorcist. All rights go to Kazue Kato.**

* * *

"Well, I'm off!" Yukio said as he headed out.

"Be safe!" Shiro exclaimed from somewhere in the church. Yukio rolled his eyes and shut the door behind him. Besides, he was thirteen. It wasn't like he was seven and still just a crybaby. He used a key and went up to the Moriyama's – he needed to get a refill on supplies. He greeted Shiemi's mom at the counter; it seemed Shiemi was out working in the garden again and Yukio had to go check out a demon hotspot soon so he couldn't go say hi.

He quickly got what he needed and paid. He had a mission to get to. He used another key to get to the hotspot and once there, checked in with the one of the exorcists on duty. He was older, and glanced at Yukio skeptically when he arrived.

"You know what you're doing, right?" The older exorcist asked. Yukio's age must have thrown him off, but Yukio was going to set him straight.

"I understand perfectly. I didn't gain my rank from slacking off," he said stiffly. The man glanced at him dubiously once more but then left. Then it was only him and another exorcist, who hadn't said anything yet. He went up to introduce himself.

"Hello, I'm-"

"Hey, baby face." The other exorcist said, turning and pulling her hood down to reveal a head of pink and yellow hair.

"Shura!?" He exclaimed. "I didn't recognize you with all your clothes on!"

She cracked up, and he realized how that sounded and blushed red. "Good one, baby face, but ya gotta pay attention to the mission, not just my state o' dress."

"Yeah, yeah," he said. "So we're just patrolling this place for the next couple hours and making sure no demons come flying out?"

"Pretty much, she agreed. "And if somethin' _does_ come flyin' out, we're gonna kill it."

"Sounds like fun," he said, and they settled in for a wait.

* * *

Rin collapsed on his bed. Staying in Assiah so long was exhausting, mainly because he didn't have an actual place to sleep. But some of those demons were ridiculously hard to track down. Rin couldn't even figure out how they got where they did, but demons were able to possess nearly anything.

Since he had inherited Satan's flames, his power was in his blood and he was able to create his own Gehenna Gate, especially after strengthening his powers for so long. Because of his ability, though, he was sent to track down rogue demons that had escaped to Assiah. It was tiring. The most recent one had taken almost two weeks. And now, he just wanted to sleep. He hadn't even told Thaziel he was back. He slept.

The next morning he woke, refreshed. He sat up and turned to get out of bed, only to see Thaziel sitting in a chair by the door, fast asleep. He felt bad, Thaziel would probably have a massive crick in his neck. Rin walked over to him and gently shook him awake. "Hey, Thaziel. It's morning..."

Thaziel stirred, then blinked owlishly at Rin. "Thank you for informing that you had returned last night, Rin." Rin laughed nervously, noting the dry tone his mentor used, obviously not glad he hadn't been told. Thaziel had become more familiar with him over the years, replacing both Satan and Shiro as a father figure.

"So what am I doing today, Thaziel?" He asked, trying to change the subject.

Thaziel made a thinking face for a few moments before his expression brightened. "I know! You'll be watching the practice fights."

"That's not so-"

"And not participating." Thaziel amended his previous statement.

Rin scowled. "That's more along the lines of what I was expecting," he admitted.

Rin and Thaziel made their way down to the practice arena after stopping by the kitchens to get some food. Watching matches was a good way of training, but it was less interesting to Rin because he didn't get to be in the thick of the action. They sat through a few matches, Thaziel quizzing Rin on things he noticed about the fighters, until the fourth or fifth match. There was a combatant who used double knives, as opposed to the more common larger, two-handed weapons.

"Thaziel, that guy's double wielding!" Rin said excitedly.

"Yes, Rin, he is wielding two weapons simultaneously. What about it?" Thaziel asked dryly, amused by Rin's awe.

"I want to learn how to do that!"

"It takes a great deal of concentration and training. Do you still think you can?"

Rin's hair lit on fire, his excitement manifesting in more than just his tone of voice. "I can do it!" He proclaimed.

"All right then. Report bright and early tomorrow. That's the next thing we'll focus on in combat training. Be prepared."

* * *

"Thaziel, you said I was going to learn double wielding. Why are you tying one of my arms behind my back?" Rin questioned.

Thaziel answered his question with another question. "How can you expect to double wield if you can only properly utilize one hand? By tying off your left hand, your dominant hand, you are forced to use your right hand, and you will become competent with that hand as well."

"That makes sense, I guess," Rin said with a frown, and his hand was tied behind his back.

* * *

"What're you doing, Rin?" The boy turned to face his older brother.

"Hi Iblis."

"Hey. But really, what are you doing?" He pressed. Rin sighed and started explaining. "I wanted to learn double wielding, and Thaziel thought this would help."

Iblis cracked up. "That's good! Gotta love Thaziel." Rin pouted.

"Quit laughing, it's not funny." But of course, this only made Iblis crack up more.

* * *

 **A/N: I'm so jetlagged. We moved into temp housing (a serviced apartment) and it's really nice. I've also been busy with the whole moving thing, so sorry for the short chapter. I think there's like two more until we catch up to the beginning of the series.**


	9. Chapter 9: Family

**Disclaimer: All rights to Blue Exorcist go to Kazue Kato and whatever else I reference I don't own either.**

* * *

"What's up baby face? Not get enough Christmas presents?" Shura asked. Yukio knew his face was miserable, but he couldn't help himself. His and Rin's fourteenth birthday had been a few days ago. It had been over six years since he'd seen his brother, and he missed him. He just sighed in response to Shura's question, and that's when Shura started to look concerned.

"No, really, is there somethin' wrong?"

He smiled weakly. "Nothing you can help with," he replied honestly.

"What d'ya mean?" She asked curiously.

He knew her well enough that he thought he could trust her. And so he told her. "Shura, I have a brother. A twin brother. His name wa- I mean, _is_ , Rin. He's seven minutes older than me. But, about six and a half years ago, he was taken by Astaroth, because our- um, because Satan wanted him. I miss him, Shura, and I want to get him back."

Shura's eyes widened. "He was taken by _Astaroth_? Because _Satan_ took a personal interest in him?" She asked incredulously. "Why do you think he's even still alive?"

Yukio fidgeted a little. "He, Rin, um, he...he has the blue flames. It's something he inherited...from our father."

He kept his eyes on Shura's face, wary of her reaction. Her face was blank. A bead of sweat rolled down the back of his neck. And then she laughed. Big, loud, laughs, like it was the funniest thing she'd ever heard.

"Oh man, the sons of Satan, bein' raised by the Paladin 'imself? Oh this is _good_ ," she said.

"You're not...you don't hate me?" He asked tentatively. Her reaction was definitely not what he'd been expecting.

"Kid, yer forgettin', I was raised by demons, and yer no demon." He sighed in relief.

"So, do you think I'll be able to get Rin back?" He asked.

Her smile turned to a frown. "I don't know, Yukio. Bein' with demons...it changes you. It took me a long time to learn 'ow to be 'uman again. And Rin's been with demons for as long as I was. He might not even want to come back-"

"No!" He yelled, interrupting. "Rin's my big brother! He would never leave me behind on purpose!" And Yukio believed what he was saying, because it was true. Rin was always looking out for him, making sure that he was okay. And when he wasn't, Rin would try to fix the problem in whatever way he could.

"All right then. I'll make you a deal, baby face. You get an Arc Knight ranking, and I'll help you get him back."

Yukio's head snapped towards her. "You'd do that?" He asked hopefully.

"Sure would, baby face. Now. Back to trainin'!"

* * *

"My next mission is in Yonezawa?" He asked, startled. Why did life hate him?

"Yes. You will leave tomorrow morning. I expect you back in three days." His father ordered imperiously.

He made a face at the floor. "Yes, father," he said, and left.

"Oh man, why Yonezawa?" He muttered aloud.

"What's so bad about Yonezawa?" He near jumped out of his skin at Iblis's question. He thought he'd been alone in the hallway.

"Geez, Iblis, don't scare me like that."

"Seriously, though. Yonezawa?" Iblis prompted.

"Yonezawa is where Shiro and Yukio and the other priests live. Everyone I know is there. And the most recent escapee decided that would be a perfect place to hunker down, and Father says I have to eliminate the chances of an information leak before the exorcists get to him."

Iblis looked thoughtful. "That's rough, buddy."

"Yeah. I'm just gonna wing it."

"Well. Good luck. Not that you need it, I saw your new double-wielding sword technique. You are a combat natural, little bro. It took me _decades_ to get that good with only one sword."

Rin rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, one of his human quirks Thaziel hadn't been able to fully get rid of. "Thanks."

"Is it a solo assignment?"

"Yeah."

"Huh. How long?"

"Father said I'd have to be back in four days."

"See you in four days then," Iblis said before climbing out a window. Rin laughed a little. Despite being centuries old, Iblis sure acted like a little kid.

* * *

Day two and the target had already been taken care of. He still had a full day before he had to return to Gehenna. And he wanted to at least _see_ Yukio, even if he couldn't talk to him. Shiro, too.

He walked casually towards the chapel, hood up on his white sweater and headphones on to conceal his pointed ears. His baggy black cargo pants offered plenty of space for him to hide his tail in, and his white sneakers were had excellent traction in case he needed to run or climb. But overall, the ensemble allowed him to conceal anything that would have given him away as a demon. Like his twin daggers, to give yet another example. Not to mention it kept him warm in the snowy weather.

He'd pulled a money scam like Iblis had showed him – it was hard to believe it was almost a full year ago they'd done that. He had plenty of cash for food and anything else he needed. He also bought a newspaper, too, and was surprised to see that his and Yukio's birthday had only been a few days previous. And then he knew he wanted to use his money for another thing.

What did Yukio like now? He'd always been an avid student when they were both in school together. He probably was still. But a gift that had to do with school seemed impersonal, and wasn't really his style. Rin's wanted to get something more...interesting.

He walked down the street, and something caught his eye. It was a bookstore, but what interested him wasn't the books. It was the small figures hanging by the checkout counter. Chibi characters you could put on your keychain. He entered the store.

After several minutes of looking, he found what he was looking for. Two of the character figures bore a slight resemblance to him and Yukio. The Yukio figure just needed the moles, so he also picked up a black marker before checking out. As he exited the store, he grinned. He sat on a nearby bench, not caring that there was a thin layer of snow on top, and added the moles to the 'Yukio'. He also wrote Yukio on the forehead of the character. For the other, he wrote his own name on the forehead, and hooked the rings together that were meant for putting on a key ring.

He stuffed both figures in his jacket pocket and got up. He made his way on the familiar path to the chapel where he'd lived the first seven years of his life. He peeked in through the open window. Only the priests were there, but however much he liked them it was really Shiro and Yukio most of all that he wanted to see. But it was not to be.

"When are Fujimoto-san and Yukio-kun returning again?" One of the priests that Rin didn't recognize said.

"For the last time, they're due back in two days." Another responded.

Two days? By that time Rin would already be in Gehenna. He'd missed Yukio, by only a day. It would be okay though. He assessed the height of the second-floor window that had been Yukio's room. And jumped.

He was lucky that there wasn't any ice on the sill, and was able to climb up and open Yukio's window to get through. He shook off some of the snow quietly and looked around at his younger brother's room. He let out a muffled snicker when he saw the neat stacks of schoolwork on his desk. So his brother was still obsessed with his studies, as he'd thought.

His attention was drawn to a few other items, things that showed how Yukio had changed. There was a gun on his desk too. A couple of pictures on the wall showed him in an exorcist uniform. A dragoon, then? It didn't surprise Rin at all. Although, the one picture with the girl – that was a bit strange.

The picture in the place of honor, on Yukio's nightstand, was one of him, Yukio, and Shiro taken just a few weeks before he'd been kidnapped. All three of them had bright grins. Rin smiled sadly.

He pulled the figurines from his pocket and dropped them on Yukio's bed. He started climbing out the window, but something poked into his rib. He paused and pulled out the marker he'd bought earlier. Looking at it, he went back into the room.

* * *

"How did the mission go?"

"It was a success. The exorcists were not there when I arrived and did not return during my stay."

"Good. You may leave."

* * *

Yukio hung up his coat and yawned before sitting down at his desk. He put his head in his hands. He was dead tired after their most recent mission. He looked at his bed longingly; before he could sleep he'd need to shower and – wait, what? He didn't remember leaving anything on his bed.

He picked up the mysterious object. It was...a chibi character keychain...with two figures on it. He turned one over. It had brown hair, glasses, and three moles. 'Yukio' was written on its forehead and he let out a sigh of exasperation. Did the new priest do this? He then turned the other over and his heart stopped. Black messy hair. Smile. 'Rin' was written on the forehead. Was it an elaborate, cruel prank?

He looked back to his bed to see if he'd missed any clues, and to his surprise there was a paper there he'd missed earlier. His eyes widened as he read, and tears came despite his smile.

 _Dear Yukio,_

 _I'm sorry I didn't actually get to see you but Satan said I have to be back by tomorrow, which I think would be yesterday by the time you read this. Well, whatever._

 _I was here because I had a mission to find a demon that went rogue and I decided I wanted to see you, even if I couldn't talk to you. I think he'd know but I don't care if I get punished for this. I had to let you know I was okay._

 _It's been seven years since I was kidnapped, weird, huh? But my tutor here, Thaziel, he's really cool and doesn't like Satan, neither does Iblis, you'd like them, and Amaimon is just plain nuts. They've taught me really cool things and I'll show you later if I can._

 _Well. Happy late birthday. Those keychains are my birthday present for you so you remember. We're brothers, always were and always will be._

 _Rin_

"Dad!"

* * *

 **A/N: Wrote this in like an hour while listening to my Liked Videos on youtube (basically just an eclectic mix of anime songs, random rock songs, some rap, and movie soundtracks).**

The characters Rin picked out were Gray Fullbuster (Fairy Tail) for him and Kazuma (Noragami) for Yukio. Because, really, the whole internet says they're look-alikes.

Also, if anyone can tell me one other reference I used in this chapter I'll be very happy!


	10. Chapter 10: Return and Mephisto

**Disclaimer: All rights to Blue Exorcist go to Kazue Kato.**

* * *

The young half-demon stood at the edge of a cliff, surveying the town below him. He inhaled deeply through his nose, the cool, clean scent of Assiah's air invigorating him. Gehenna smelled of smoke, and dead things. His eyes, used to the dimness of Gehenna, took time to adjust to the light of the land of his birth. It felt good to be back.

Rin had been sent to Assiah to check up on one of the demons in this town – Kyoto, it was called. Satan had been growing curious about the recent activities of Lucifer and had sent Rin, who had just enough of an intimidation factor to bully any demon, yet wasn't old enough to be trusted with his own subordinates. Thus, he was sent to bully mid-level demons and make sure they were doing their jobs properly. Basically, he was Satan's glorified errand boy.

When he thought about it, he had never actually met Lucifer. He wondered what his oldest brother was like. _Maybe he likes fashion._ Rin laughed aloud at his errant thought. Whatever, he had wasted enough time just standing around. He could waste time in better ways.

He walked to the edge of the cliff. Sixty or so feet tall, he estimated. With most of his powers still sealed in Gehenna, that was pushing it. He decided to try anyway - what Thaziel didn't know wouldn't hurt him. What was life without a little risk, after all? With a flip, because why not, he sprang from the edge. The wind whipped at his face and clothes as the treetops below him approached. There was a moment of confusion as he passed through the branches, twisting violently to minimize any impacts. His feet hit the ground, _bam!_ , the shock wave traveling up his legs and jarring his entire body. He collapsed on to the ground, laughing from the adrenaline. What a rush! He stood and started making his way over to the town.

There were so many interesting things to do! There were at least fifteen different shrines and temples, and knowing about demons and some of the history made them that much more interesting. He visited the Kikaku-ji temple (covered in gold), the Nijo-jo Castle (where some of the Tokugawa shoguns lived), and the Ujigami-jinja Shrine (with the cool spring), to name a few. He also saw a shrine that looked to be in disrepair. _How sad, when a shrine gets neglected._ He walked around a mall, wishing he had brought some of the Assiahn money Iblis had given him. He passed a couple girls that were giggling at something but blushed and turned away when he looked over indifferently. It didn't matter if they were human or demon, females were indecipherable.

It was starting to approach the meeting time. He found a quiet spot to sit at one of the temples and concentrated. _There!_ A faint trace of demon energy, a couple kilometers from his current position. He opened his eyes, got up, and left the temple grounds, meandering his way towards the other demon, checking occasionally to see if it had moved. After a few minutes he began to look around at the people before him, knowing the demon was close. He saw one 'man' who looked nervous-glancing around every few seconds, sweating slightly, and… _aha!_ licking his lips every minute or so with a forked tongue. Rin sidled up to the disguised demon, approaching from the side.

"Quite different from Gehenna, isn't it?" he asked pleasantly, inwardly smirking when the demon jumped. Who knew that sneaking up behind demons would frighten them? He supposed Iblis's slightly sadistic tendencies were rubbing off on him.

He turned to face Rin. "Pr-prince Rin! Please excuse any rudeness on my part!" He stuttered. "I have nothing out of the ordinary to report. As expected, Lucifer's host body has weakened considerably, but one of our scientists, a human by the name of Gedouin, has been researching an immortality serum to rectify that problem. That is all I have to report." Rin furrowed his brow in thought. _An immortality serum? Not good._

"You may be dismissed. Thank you for the information." The demon scrambled away, obviously afraid of Rin. But before the other demon had traveled more than 10 meters, he was hit by a holy-water grenade. The mist billowed out, scalding the demon. A bit reached Rin, and he hissed as a rash started forming on his skin.

"That one's a demon too!" he heard someone yell. _That's why I hate these stupid messenger jobs! You'd think that Lucifer, out of all my brothers, would pick better underlings, but apparently not!_

He whipped around to see a group of more than fifteen exorcists, led by two young men. One had short black hair, the other longer blond hair. _Curses!_ This was bad, and getting worse. He wasn't about to kill any humans, and so was stuck in what he could do. They surrounded him. He tried to talk his way out, addressing the young male with the longer blond hair.

"Now, wait a minute, it's not what you think, see..." Wait...where was the black-haired one? At that moment, he felt something jar into his skull. He staggered drunkenly, obviously concussed. He collapsed, black crowding his vision until he sunk into the welcoming embrace of unconsciousness.

"So...what do we do with him?" Kinzou asked. "He looks pretty human. I mean, he could be one of Renzou's friends. They look about the same age."

"He's still a demon, Kinzou. He'll have to be taken care of, one way or another. Let's think about this logically." replied Uwabami Hojo, the head of the Hojo clan.

"He must be a high-level demon," offered Mamushi.

"Why is that?" Jinzou enquired.

"It's obvious, really. First off, he has a humanoid form. That's common mostly among mid-level to high-level demons. Also, do you remember why we were there in the first place? We were going after a demon connected to the Illuminati. That has to be some pretty important information. The high-risk demon he was in contact with and his physical form lead me to believe that he's a higher-level demon." she answered.

"Oh. I guess that makes sense. It's a good thing you're here, Mamushi-chan!"

"Don't be so familiar!" she shot back. Her face grew serious. "I do have one question though. He responded to holy water, but we haven't been able to exorcise him. Why is that?"

"I actually don't know the answer. I believe that due to the particular situation surrounding this demon, we'll have to take him to the higher-ups, probably to Mephisto Pheles himself. If anyone could tell us who this is, it would be him." Uwabami responded.

"I guess that settles it, then," Jinzou remarked. "He's tied up, and still unconscious, so we'd better get going. Kinzou, you're coming with me."

The two Shimas used a key to go directly to the Japan branch building. Juuzou led the way as Kinzou walked behind him, carrying Rin.

"Man, this guy's heavy! You want a turn, Juuzou?"

"Just deal with it. I have to find Mephisto."

The brothers heard a groan. Juuzou turned and looked back, and Kinzou stopped as Rin started shifting around. He set Rin down, holding his torso upright. Rin blinked as he became more aware of his surroundings.

"Where are we?" He recognized the two as the two who had knocked him out, but thought that as he was been tied up and was seemingly harmless, they might actually answer some of his questions.

The taller one with black hair spoke first. "You're in the Japan Branch Exorcist Building. We're taking you to see Mephisto Pheles-"

"Who's that?" Rin interrupted.

"He's the leader of the Japan branch. He knows a lot about demons. He'll decide your fate," the blond one responded. He then thoughtfully added, "Can you walk by yourself? You're getting kind of heavy."

At Rin's incredulous nod, he smiled. "Excellent!"

Not seeing any way out of his situation, he decided to go along quietly until he was in a position where he was able to escape. They trio made their way to a large door set into the hallway wall. It was quite a strange door, he had to say. It had very interesting workmanship, swirls and such. The colors were quite unexpected too, mostly different shades of pink and purple. Whoever lived behind that door was probably very...eccentric.

Juuzou knocked three times on the door, and a voice answered.

"Come in."

The door slowly opened, and the three young males walked apprehensively into the strangely decorated room. The inhabitant was an otaku. There was no other explanation. Paraphernalia from various anime and manga littered the floor, were placed on shelves all around the oversized room, and were even on the ceiling. _Geez..._ was the collective thought of the three visitors. Their attention was finally drawn to the figure sitting behind the desk in the center of the room. He was beyond strange, looking like he had just stepped out of Lewis Carroll's Wonderland. A white suit (including a top hat) went over pink and purple tights and shirt. It was evident that there were only three sane people in the room, if fashion sense was any indication.

"Hello!" the strange person greeted excitedly. "Why if it isn't Shima-san and Shima-san. And, my goodness, is that Rin I see? How you've grown, baby brother!"

Rin's jaw dropped. "Samael?!"

The stranger winked conspiratorially. "I go by Mephisto Pheles these days to exorcists, or Johann Faust the Fifth to the students of my Academy."

Kinzou interrupted. "What the- what's going on, because I have no idea just what is happening right now."

Juuzou returned to reality as well. "We captured this demon contacting another we believe to be part of the Illuminati. He is high-level, and we aren't able to exorcise him. Therefore, we have been tasked with bringing him to you to take care of."

Whatever the Shima brothers were expecting, it was not Mephisto's laughter. A few moments later, still crying tears of mirth, he decided to take pity on them. "Rin is a special case, he isn't just _any_ demon! He is half-demon. His father is very powerful, but he was born here in Assiah. What you see here, boys, is his true body. It's impossible to exorcise one's own soul, of course. As for the Illuminati...please, enlighten us, Rin."

Rin figured that as Samael was in Assiah and was friendly with exorcists, he could be trusted with the basic information. He'd determine how trustworthy Samael was at a later date.

"He said that the Illuminati was trying to create an immortality serum, which from what I gleaned is to help demon host bodies last indefinitely. Most of the research was done by a scientist by the name of Gedouin."

"Oh dear, I had no idea things were quite this bad." Mephisto mused to himself, putting on a serious frown.

"So, you're telling me that if this serum is completed, Satan might be able to come to Assiah?" asked Juuzou.

"Exactly," agreed Mephisto.

"Well, crap." Kinzou summed up.

"So, not that I've told you what I know, what's going to happen to me?" Rin queried.

"You're going to join the cram school, of course!" Mephisto answered.

"You're letting him be a part of the cram school?!" Kinzou asked incredulously.

"What's the cram school?" Rin asked impatiently. This was all happening way too fast, and he'd just woken up from being knocked unconscious.

"It's the school that students go to learn how to be an exorcist," Juuzou replied.

"You're gonna make them try to kill me? 'Cause it's not gonna work. Probably only an Upper First Class or higher could take me down as I am now. I could always just go back to Gehenna…" _though I'd rather not if I can help it at all. Thaziel should be fine with Iblis looking after him._

"You misunderstand me, dear little brother. I'm letting you join the cram school, meaning you will take classes with the humans about your age and make new friends. In turn, you will protect them if they need it. And since it would be suspicious otherwise, you will be rooming with some of the boys." Mephisto explained.

 _Well, I guess it could be worse,_ Rin thought. At least it would give him something to do while he figured out his next move.

"Hey, Rin," Juuzou said, "our little brother is in the cram school. Look after him, all right?"

"And make sure he doesn't do stupid stuff in public...he's kind of a pervert," Kinzou added nonchalantly.

"Well, we have to get back. It was nice meeting you. See you around, Rin." Juuzou said.

"Umm, yeah...see ya." Rin replied, dumbfounded.

The two human brothers exited, Juuzou closing the door softly behind him, leaving Rin and Mephisto alone. Rin took the opportunity to study his older demon brother, doing his best to ignore the clothes. The pointy ears, the slightly enlarged canines and slitted pupils all reminiscent of the rest of his non-human family members. "So, Samael, what's up with you being here? Why are you running an exorcist school?"

"Well," Mephisto answered, smiling brightly, "I just love human culture, especially Japanese! They have all the best TV shows, anime you know, you should be familiar with it. It's just all so beautiful!" he cried, wiping a tear from his eye. _Jeez, he's so dramatic,_ Rin thought. _It's hard to believe we're related._ "Another thing of great import is this." He pulled out a sword, now deadly serious. "This is the Koumaken, also known as Kurikara. It was what had been sealing your powers when you were a child. When you disappeared, Fujimoto entrusted it to me. When you draw it, your powers will be released. Take care in using it." He paused.

"One other thing. In the cram school, you might see some familiar faces. Just so you know," he said winking. "Here's your schedule, and a key to your dorm. You can put it in any lock to go straight there, but I think I'll lead you there today. You should get settled in today, tomorrow is your first day of class." With that, there was an explosion of pink smoke and a white terrier appeared, wagging its tail. "Follow me," Rin heard, and realized the dog was Mephisto.

"Samael, you're so lame. A terrier?"

Mephisto didn't deign to bestow an answer on Rin's question, but instead turned tail and strutted out the door. Rin felt a bit ridiculous, following a dog through the grand hallways and then through the streets in True Cross town and the Academy grounds. The small white dog finally stopped at a large brown building. "Here it is, my young brother. Good luck!"

When Rin turned around to ask which room he was staying at, all he saw was a fluttering paper that read 'Your name will be written on the door. Have fun! 3 Mephisto'. Rin growled, muttering curses under his breath. _Just my luck, for Samael to love messing around._ The building looked like it was about four stories, with probably at least twenty rooms on each floor. What a pain.

He walked into the building and started down the long hallway. No, no, no, no...well, one floor down, three to go. Time to try floor two. No, no...not the second floor either. Floor three! No, no...not the third floor either. He made his way up to the fourth floor, and to the end of the hallway. On the last door, he saw a sticky note. It read, 'Congrats on getting this far and not blowing up! Good job, little bro! And actually, your room is room 14 on floor 2'.

Brothers, he decided, were a grade-A irritant. Time to go set up. He jumped back down the two flights of stairs, and made his way over to his room. He opened the door cautiously, but there wasn't anyone inside. It was alright. Two beds, a window, a desk, two closets, tiled floor. Rin propped the sword up against the wall by his bed, and collapsed face down onto the mattress. He turned his head to face the wall just enough to breathe, then slept.

* * *

 **A/N: This was actually the first chapter I wrote for this story. And then I realized it made no sense, so I created a back story. Yep indeedy.**

 **Also, I am now an official adult. I have to do stuff now. Like taxes. And voting. Ooh, fun!**


	11. Chapter 11: Enter Exwires

**Disclaimer: Blue Exorcist belongs to Kazue Kato.**

 **A/N: I am so sorry for the horrific wait. I have several good reasons: first, we moved out of temp housing and into an actual house, and then the house didn't actually have internet, and if that wasn't bad enough, I had to go back to the States for college and so lots of stuff happened. But I'm not dead. And I finally have my own laptop and call me weird but I love the fact that the keys are so light (the previous computer I was typing on had really stiff keys).**

* * *

"What's up, Shima?" Bon asked.

"I have a new roommate. It's weird 'cause the school year's already started," he said, looking confused.

"What's he like?" Konekomaru asked.

"I don't know, really," Shima replied abashedly.

"Whaddya mean you don't know? Did you just ignore him? What a terrible person you are."

"It wasn't like that, Bon!" Shima cried. "He was asleep already when I got there!"

"Oh. Well, whatever. What does he look like?"

"Umm, pale-ish skin, bluish black hair. His face was turned to the wall and I didn't want him to wake up with me leaning over him so I didn't look. There was a red sword sleeve up against the wall next to his bed though. He probably does kendo or something," Shima said, looking thoughtful.

"Never mind- just tell us if you see him."

"Okay."

The next afternoon the boys were disappointed when they realized Shima hadn't seen the other boy in any of their classes. They wondered what kind of person would be allowed to stay at True Cross Academy after starting halfway through the first semester. They took their seats in the cram school classroom when they saw Yukio walk in, preparing for their upcoming lesson.

Only a few moments later, however, all the pages jumped as they heard the door slam open. They turned to see a young man framed in the doorway. He was wearing dark slacks and a blue shirt that matched his eyes. A sword was slung over his shoulder in a red sleeve, and his messy blue-black hair was falling all over his face. His general air of dishevelment and his panting did nothing to detract from his handsome features - it had the opposite effect. Shima looked over and noticed that even Kamiki had blushed, a rarity in and of itself. It was his roommate from earlier – he could tell by the sword sleeve.

"That's my new roommate," Shima whispered urgently to Bon and Konekomaru, who both started to appraise the guy with more critical eyes.

"Sorry I'm late, I had to get directions to this place because Sam- I mean, Mephisto wouldn't tell me where it was –"

"Sensei, what's wrong?" Bon asked, seeing the color drain from Yukio's face. The rest of the class turned their attention towards Yukio as well.

He did look rather pale. In fact, he was nearly white. He looked like he had seen a ghost. His jaw worked a few times, before he stuttered, "R-Rin? Is that you?"

The new boy turned his head. "Yukio?!" he said, startled, before rushing and hugging him.

"Rin – squeezing me – Rin, _get off_!" grunted Yukio, pushing him off. He was smiling, which was strange for the usually taciturn teacher, and when he saw the very confused looks on the students' faces, a touch of red graced his cheekbones. He announced gruffly, "Class dismissed. The lesson will resume tomorrow," before striding out of the room, dragging Rin behind him. "Yukio, wait, I just got here!" could be heard, the sound fading down the hallway.

The entire class sat there a few moments until Izumo stood and announced, "Well, I don't know what that was all about, but I'm leaving."

Takara and Yamada stood as well, and headed out the door. Takara was quiet, as per usual, while Yamada muttered something about a golden sword.

Shiemi left after, saying politely, "Excuse me, but I have to go back home. Bye!"

The three boys of Kyoto were left alone in the classroom.

"Well. That was really abnormal for Yukio-sensei. He's usually pretty calm." Bon said.

"Yeah, I wonder who that guy – Rin – is to him. They seemed very close." Konekomaru offered.

"I bet – what if – what if they're dating!" Shima whispered excitedly.

"You pervert!" Bon yelled. "There's no way! Yukio's into Shiemi, you'd be able to see it if you weren't too busy looking elsewhere."

Shima looked unashamed. "Then what do you think?"

"Well, based on their reaction, they haven't seen each other in a long time," Konekomaru ventured. "You know how there are some movies in which siblings get taken to different homes and reunite years later?"

"So, you're saying they're brothers?" Bon asked. He looked thoughtful. "It's possible."

"Hmm."

The next day at cram school, the three boys arrived at class together, just a few minutes before the start of the exorcism class. When they arrived, the only ones missing were their normally uptight instructor and the rather strange boy that had arrived the day previous.

"Do you think Okumura-sensei will teach class today?" questioned Konekomaru nervously.

"We'll just have to see," replied Bon.

A few moments later, they were rewarded with the sight of Yukio and Rin entering the classroom. Yukio went to the front of the class as normal, and the new boy introduced himself.

"Hello, everybody, I'm Rin Okumura! Nice to meet you all and I hope we get along!"

Rin sat down, choosing a seat in front. The lesson seemed to go on as it normally would, despite the new addition to the class. About fifteen minutes later, Shima had noticed that Rin's head would slowly tilt down, and then jerk back up. He snickered quietly to himself. A few minutes after that, he saw Rin slump over his desk, apparently completely asleep. _Man, that was fast...it's only his first lesson._ And as was soon evident, Okumura-sensei had noticed as well. With a loud _bang!_ he dropped a heavy textbook on the desk in front of Rin, causing him to jerk awake.

"No, Iblis! I was just...wait... Oh, it's you, Yukio. Sorry, I was really tired..."

 _Iblis?_ Bon thought, and turned to his other two friends. Shima raised an eyebrow but Konekomaru stared back at him, wide-eyed. _The new boy knew a demon king? Or more likely one of his friend's parents thought it would be some sick joke..._

"Yeah, whatever Rin," Yukio responded dismissively. "At least pretend you're learning something, even though you probably already know it."

The class resumed, and Yukio started lecturing on different types of demon species again. Finally, class let out. Unfortunately for Rin, his troubles weren't over. Immediately after class Bon cornered him.

"Why are you here? You're Yukio's brother, right? Why aren't you on the same level as Okumura-sensei? Why do you sleep in class? I have a problem with lazy, unmotivated guys like you. What a punk."

"Hey," Rin defended. "If anyone's a punk, it's you with your cool hair and piercings. Besides, even though we're brothers, we have different talents. And who said I wasn't motivated? You know nothing about me. So don't bother me, or I'll rip your limbs off."

"Rin!" Yukio admonished, walking up to the argument and pinching his nose, looking exasperated. "Humans don't threaten to rip each other apart."

"Oh. So what do they do, then?"

"They use verbal insults." Yukio replied.

"Oh, so...something like 'you couldn't even smell a hobgoblin if it was in front of you'? That was one of Iblis's favorites," Rin asked, grimacing as he recalled the oft-used insult.

"No, Rin. For now, if you threaten someone, just say 'or else', please," Yukio ground out, irritated at the situation.

"Huh, really? That seems dumb. That's not even a threat."

"Sorry about Rin," Yukio said, turning to Bon. "He doesn't have particularly admirable social skills."

"Okay, sensei," Bon said, confused.

Yukio took hold of a confused Rin's collar and dragged him out of the classroom. The Kyoto boys watched as Yukio and Rin left.

"What a weird guy." Shima stated. "I think I'll ask to switch roommates with Yukio."

"Did you hear? Okumura-sensei said something strange. He told Rin 'Humans don't', like Rin wasn't human." Konekomaru said.

"Maybe Rin didn't grow up with humans?" Shima proposed.

"Actually, that might explain it." Konekomaru agreed. "There are a couple known cases of exorcists rescuing people from demons that had kidnapped them. It's not very common at all though."

"Well, I still don't like him. We can ask about it later," Bon said, ending the conversation.

* * *

"E-excuse me," Rin heard someone say. He turned to see a blonde girl much shorter than him addressing him. Yukio was off talking on his phone a short distance away.

"Yeah?"

"Um, it's just, you're Yuki-kun's brother, right? I – I'm glad you're back, Yuki-kun seems really happy." Rin smiled.

"Um, thanks, uh, what's your name again?"

"Oh, sorry!" The girl nearly squeaked. "I'm Shiemi Moriyama. I have to go now! Bye!" And then she scurried off, Rin looking on in bemusement.

"Hey, Yukio, who are all the people in your class? I talked with two of them already, and I think the one with pink hair is my roommate, but only Shiemi introduced herself."

Yukio laughed. "Sorry, Rin. The two in the back of the class were Takara and Yamada. Yamada is the one with the hoodie and video game addiction, Takara's the one with the hand puppets. Shiemi already introduced herself to you, and the girl with the purple hair is Izumo."

"There's only two girls? Iblis would be disappointed."

"Huh. The three boys that confronted you earlier are all from Kyoto."

"I was just there!"

"Huh...the one you threatened is Ryuji Suguro. The small one is Konekomaru Miwa, and the pink-haired one is Renzo Shima."

"Shima! So he's the two guy's younger brother!"

"You met Shima's older brothers?"

"Yeah, they're the ones that captured me and brought me here. I'm not complaining though, it gives me protection from Satan."

"Protection?"

"Yeah," Rin said grimly. "Since I didn't return within the allotted time, Satan will have assumed I've turned traitor, except I was taken by force. This way, I can return to him whenever I want and he won't know that I've been helping the exorcists, since I was 'captured'."

"Right, that makes sense..."

The two brothers were interrupted by the boy Rin now knew as Shima.

"Can I talk to you a moment, Yukio-sensei?" He asked uncomfortably.

"What is it?" Yukio asked. Rin marveled at the way his brother could change modes instantaneously.

"Well, I was wondering...you're rooming with Konekomaru and Bon, right? Well, I'm rooming with Rin. D'you wanna switch? I mean, it seems like you haven't seen each other in a while and I think I'd be more comfortable rooming with Bon and Konekomaru - no offense, Rin - so..."

Rin smiled, face beaming. "You'd do that for us?"

Shima looked taken aback. "Sure...?"

Yukio butted in and took charge. "That's acceptable. How about we move our stuff later tonight?"

"Sounds good, thanks," Shima said, looking relieved, and he hurried back to the other two Kyoto boys.

Yukio looked back at Rin. "Dad would have a field day with that." Then his eyes grew wide. "I haven't told him you're back yet!"

* * *

 **A/N: Fun fun fun. Still not quite sure what I'm doing with Shiro yet. He's on a long-term mission right now.**


	12. Chapter 12: MepphyLand

**A/N: So guys, I'm really sorry for the long wait but I watched like 20 episodes of InuYasha over the weekend when I should have been doing my homework and then I realized I had to write an entire 'First Draft' for my Creative Writing class, and then had ten different assignments in a week for my studio art class, and then my history teacher gave my class a fifty-page reading...well. You get the picture. I was pretty busy.**

 **Also, I noticed that this story has reached 100 follows and that honestly makes me so happy. Thank you wonderful readers. That's the kind of motivation that I need, it makes me guilty that I haven't published in...let's say a while. So I finally posted this, just for you.**

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"So, in order to catch the ghost, you all will be splitting into groups of two. When you find the ghost, call me with the location and I'll notify the others so we can exorcise the ghost. Sound good?"

At the murmured assent of the others in the group, Yukio continued on.

"All right then. The groups will be – Shima and Miwa, Suguro and Moriyama, Kamiki and Okumura, and last but not least Yamada and Takara."

The groups all met each others eyes then headed to different areas of the park.

"This isn't a date, you know," Izumo said, not looking back from her position ahead of Rin.

He looked at her quizzically, not that she could see. "What's a date?"

"...Never mind."

He walked more quickly until he caught up to her and tapped her shoulder to get her attention. "Hey. I think he's over there," he said, pointing in the direction of a carousel some distance away.

"Why do you think that?" She asked suspiciously.

"You can't hear him?" Rin asked. He'd heard what sounded like crying from at least 20 meters back.

"No...you must have really superhuman senses."

"Uh...aha, you really think so? I mean, I thought it was normal – hey let's look for the ghost now!" She gave him a wary look but dropped the subject.

During the conversation they'd come close enough to the carousel that they could look for the ghost, but he wasn't on the carousel. Rin turned to Izumo, and then the ghost appeared – right in front of her.

Both exwires drew back in surprise, and the ghost boy started crying again, sobbing about how he didn't get to have fun when he was alive. Rin watched in amusement as Izumo grew more irritated with the ghost boy. He smirked when one of her eyebrows started to twitch.

"Nobody cares, you stupid ghost!" She eventually burst out, and the ghost boy surprisingly stopped crying.

The boy made an ugly face, and then proceeded to poke his hands? appendages? into Izumo's chest. She got furious and chased after the ghost, who fled.

Rin figured that since Izumo was keeping an eye on the ghost, he would have to be the one to call Yukio. He opened the phone and started dialing the number, only to pause when he felt Kurikara being lifted from his shoulder.

"Hey!" He yelled, turning to the thief. "Give that ba- Amaimon?" Rin was startled. Amaimon generally kept to Gehenna unless Samael bribed him with something.

"If you want it back, you have to fight," Amaimon explained calmly, having removed the lollipop in his mouth so as to be intelligible. "Brother said so."

 _What in the nine levels of Gehenna was Samael thinking? There are other exorcists here!_ He was willing to go that far just to test Rin's capabilities? Rin knew he'd been naive. Just because Mephisto had seemed like a harmless eccentric, he'd let his guard down. There was a reason Samael had been named one of the Eight Demon Kings, after all.

Amaimon inspected the sword curiously, unsheathing and resheathing the sword repeatedly. "Oh, I get it," he said. "It's like its own Gehenna Gate, because your powers come from Gehenna but your body is here in Assiah, right?"

"Amaimon, give it back!" Rin hissed, his body lighting up. When the other demon made a face and refused, Rin launched himself at him and tackled him off the statue. They fell into a violent tangle, a flurry of blows and biting and scratching. There were no rules in demon fights. The sword lay forgotten several meters away.

They fought for only a few more minutes before Rin had Amaimon pinned. "Don't take what's mine, _weakling,_ " he snarled. He let Amaimon up and sat back on his feet. The demon king fled, running off to who-knows-where.

Rin stood triumphantly and went to retrieve his sword – but there was already someone holding it. Yamada had picked up the sword and was sheathing it. Rin felt his flames disappear.

"Who are you?" He asked warily. No Exwire would be that calm after seeing two high-level demons brawling like that. Yamada just tossed his sword back to him.

She pulled off her hood, allowing Rin to see her face. "Shura. Upper First Class exorcist. And you and I are gonna have a little talk."

She grabbed him by the ear, dragging him along as she called Yukio and explained what had happened. They and all the other exwires met up at the park entrance they had come through.

Yukio winced when he saw Rin and Shura.

"What happened to the ghost?" Rin asked. In the confusion with Amaimon, he'd lost track of it and Izumo, who answered his question.

"He dissipated after I chased him halfway across the park without you, that's what," Izumo said. "What happened to you?"

Rin could see the question on everybody else's faces and knew he must look a sight. He knew his nose was broken and his lip split. Not to mention the scratches through his eyebrow and on his cheek where Amaimon had nearly taken his eye out. He must have been blood all over his face. But he couldn't tell them what had really happened. "Umm..."

"He got into a fight with a 'igh-level demon that wasn't supposed to be here," Shura interrupted. "I'm gonna take 'im in ta Branch HQ."

"Shouldn't he be taken to the infirmary first?" Izumo asked. "He looks like he's got a broken nose and by the way he was walking probably some internal injuries. That's serious!"

"He'll be fine." Shura dismissed easily. "I've gotta report in first and since Rin was the only one ta see th'other demon he's gotta report in with me too."

The rest of the Exwires looked confused, but Yukio nodded apprehensively.

Rin was worried. An upper-class exorcist had discovered him. Normally he'd have been able to fight her on equal grounds, but after his brawl with Amaimon and his resulting injuries...he'd play it safe until he knew exactly what he wanted.

They stopped in a large empty room. While she shut the door behind her, he surreptitiously moved a few meters farther into the room, away from the crazy lady.

"So. My orders in coming here were to watch for and if found eliminate anything related to Satan, and you fit the bill perfectly. Explain to me why I shouldn't kill you."

Rin laughed sardonically. "No reason at all."

She stepped back, surprised. "You're not going to argue for yourself at all?"

"No," he responded lowly. "But if it comes down to it," he said, raising his head to stare her in the eyes, "I will fight. I'll fight, to protect myself. I'll fight, to protect my friends. And I'll fight, to protect my family. But most of all, I fight to protect my brother," he finished firmly, his face hard and his stance set.

Shura studied him a moment. "Who are the you consider as friends and family?"

Rin answered warily. "Thaziel. Iblis. Shiro. The other priests. The Shima brothers. Shiemi. Izumo. And Yukio."

"Not Satan?"

" _Never_ Satan," Rin hissed, face darkening in his fury.

Shura's expression grew cryptic, and then she broke out into a grin. "All right then, Hotshot. Go get those wounds looked at."

Rin was taken by completely by surprise. "What?" He asked confusedly.

Shura took pity on him and explained. "I was raised by demons too, y'know. When I was a couple o' years younger than ya are now, the old man rescued me and took me as 'is student. I figure if 'e raised ya the first, what, seven years o' yer life ya can't be _too_ bad. Welcome ta the team, Rin."

He looked at her, drained now that the threat was gone. "Thanks."

"Alright Hotshot. To the infirmary!"

"Sounds good, I guess. Amaimon really did a number on me."

"Okay then! Now that we got that sorted out...wanna spar sometime?" Shura asked excitedly. "It's been ages since I had a proper fight. As good an exorcist as Baby Face is, he ain't no swordsman."

"Yeah..."

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 **A/N: Aaaand, that's a wrap! For this chapter, at least.**

 **Also, it's fun to try writing Shura's accent.**

 **Also, sorry it's short. But life.**


	13. Chapter 13: Training Camp

Sorry for the wait guys. I'll work on more regular updates, but between my studio art class and my creative writing class my free time has all but disappeared. Not to mention my roommate keeps inviting apartments of boys to have dinner with us.

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Disclaimer: I don't own Blue Exorcist.

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"Hey, Okumura!"

Rin turned to see Konekomaru hurrying down the stairs towards him, Sugura and Shima lagging a bit behind.

"Hi!" The smaller boy said excitedly. "This is the first time I've seen you outside of class, I think."

Rin shrugged. It might have been. It was hard to believe that he'd been in school for an entire semester without causing any major ruckus. "Probably."

"So, you ready for the training camp?" Suguro said.

"There's a training camp?" Rin's eyes widened. He vaguely remembered Yukio mentioning something of the sort. He thought that was when he had been binging on a new manga series he'd discovered.

"Yeah, you didn't know? We're meeting at True Cross Halfway Station in about an hour or so, once the closing ceremony is over."

"Sweet!"

After the ceremony, the exwires headed over to the Station, where Yukio and Shura were waiting for them.

"Glad you could make it," Yukio greeted. "We're going to spend time at an Exwire training camp, to make sure you guys will be qualified to go on real missions. It will be mostly combat training, so be prepared." Rin caught his brother's glance and gave him a reassuring nod. He'd be fine without his flames, as long as the threat level stayed below that of an Upper Second Class exorcist.

Yukio gave a half-smile and continued on. "We'll be hiking up to our campsite, where the rest of the training will be announced. All of your gear was brought here – I did yours for you, Rin – and we'll be taking it up the mountain in our packs."

The exwires all looked excited. "Let's do this!"

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~one hour later~

"It's so hot and my bags are heavy..."

"I hate mosquitos."

"I feel like a soldier, marching like this."

"Oooh, a waterfall!" Rin didn't understand the other's complaints. The sun was shining, the air smelled green and fresh, and the mosquitoes wouldn't bother him. It was a great day! "I wonder if I can drink from it, it looks delicious..." He mused.

"What the heck man, why do you have so much energy? I'm exhausted!" Shima complained.

"What do you mean?" Rin asked. "It's so nice out!" And it was, to him – Gehenna was warmer and much more humid. But he realized that as humans, Shima and the others would naturally have much less stamina and would also be unused to the weather conditions.

Shima looked at him askance, but Rin gave his most innocent look and Shima turned away, shaking his head.

They were distracted moments later by Yukio's announcement. "Alright guys, time to set up the tents!"

Rin looked over to Bon who he was supposed be working with to set up the tent. "So, um..." But he and Shima seemed to be distracted by his brother.

"He took his jacket off...so he is human, after all." Rin heard the quiet whisper and sniggered to himself. If only they knew...

But there were tents to set up. He turned toward the tents they had, but Konekomaru and Shima already were starting to set one up. That left him with Suguro. Who hated him. He decided to try the all-business approach.

"How do you set up a tent?" He asked simply. Suguro turned toward him and raised an eyebrow.

"You've never done this before?" He replied incredulously. Rin shook his head. "There's instructions in there, you know. With pictures and everything. Even you should be able to follow them."

"And what d'you mean by that, huh?" Rin challenged. He wasn't as dumb as Suguro thought he was. "Do you want to fight me?"

"Tch. Just set up the tent."

Rin proceeded to pull the poles into position, using the instructions as a guide. Within ten minutes, the tent was set up. It was mostly due to Suguro's ability rather than Rin's, but he had helped. When it was up, he prodded the tent's surface experimentally. It made a poink! Sound. He smiled. He prodded it again, a little harder. Poink!

"You keep doin' that, the tent's gonna - "

He'd poked a little harder than he'd meant to and the tent was now a pile of rods and canvas.

"Oops."

"You moron, I told ya - " But Rin had already turned around and was halfway to the camp stove, having heard the slight murmurs of the girls as they tried to figure out what to do with the food supplies.

"Let me help you with that..."

* * *

"Wow, this is great, Rin!"

"Yeah, it's really good."

Rin grinned. It wasn't often he got praised like this, and he rather liked it.

After a short time - "All right, guys, time for me to reveal the true reason we dragged you guys all the way out here," Shura interrupted. "A test of courage!"

Everyone was confused. There was no way the training camp was just a test of courage, the exorcist order wouldn't expend so many resources just for an elaborate test of courage.

"Shura, you can't say stuff like that! And it's time for work, not drinking!" Yukio turned away from where he was scolding Shura and towards the exwires. "It's a field test. There are three lanterns somewhere in the forest. Your job is to find them, light them, and bring them back here."

He cleared his throat, then continued. "If you get into trouble, there's a distress signal you can use. You have to use your match to light it, so if you do you will be disqualified. Also, if your lantern's flame goes out after you light it, we will know and you will be disqualified. Additionally, you will be disqualified if you light your lantern close to the base and not where you find it. Any questions?"

"Nope!" Rin exclaimed. He was eager to get started. Even thought he wasn't required to participate, he thought it would be fun.

They all got a backpack from the pile next Yukio, then lined up at the edge of the camp.

"Ready...set...GO!" Shura announced, and they all bolted into the forest. As soon as Rin entered he became wary. There was a familiar presence here, and it wasn't the native moth demons. No, it was something bigger. Something...Amaimon! But what was he doing here? He was supposed to be in Gehenna!

Rin stopped dead, crouching on an outcropping of rock. There was something else. Samael. Of course, that would also explain why Amaimon was there. His control over space most likely even extended into Gehenna.

Back to the original question. What were they doing here? It couldn't be for the other exwires – they were just exwires. That meant they were there for Rin. He didn't want to interrupt the rest of the exwires in their lantern-hunt, so he went to confront his two older brothers.

He was nearly to Samael's position when he was tackled in mid-air. "What in – Amaimon! Cut it out!" He yelled. He fought his way out of Amaimon's grip and pushed him into the ground. He snarled, drawing his sword and thrust it through his brother's shoulder and into the ground, pinning him.

"What's this all about, huh?" He snarled.

Amaimon tried to pull the sword out, only to flinch when it burned his hand. "Brother said I could play with you!"

Rin whipped around to look at where he was sure Samael was watching the fight. "Again? So, you wanted to test me?" He muttered. "Well, you just got what you wanted. I took Amaimon down, no problem." He withdrew his sword and flicked the blood and dirt from the blade before sheathing it. He turned to walk away, but Amaimon still wanted to 'play'.

Rin lurched as his sword was yanked off his back and flung somewhere in the forest. " _That's how you want to play? Come on!_ " He yelled in the demon tongue. Amaimon grinned maniacally. The two charged at each other and met in a flurry of claws and fists.

They brawled for a couple more minutes, trading blows all the while, until Rin ended up on top again. " _Good fight. Now I've got a bone to pick with Samael._ " He stood and let Amaimon sit up. Rin wiped some blood off his face that was trickling from somewhere above his eye and glared up at Samael. He jumped up, using a tree branch to get himself high enough that he was perched on an arm of Samael's floating throne.

" _What was that about_ ," he snarled lowly. He'd been able to avoid burning the whole forest down, but it always annoyed him when he had to restrain himself like that.

"Why, little brother, I was just wanting to know how strong you really were! I didn't mean anything by it!" Samael replied jovially. Rin spat down towards the forest to show his displeasure.

"Next time, fight me yourself, Samael," he said before jumping down and retrieving his sword. Once he sheathed it, his flames dissipated and he forced himself to calm down. He made his way back to the camp, nodding at Amaimon as he passed him. "Don't let him control you, got that?"

He turned, leaving his brothers behind. As he walked into camp, the faces of all the exwires were turned towards him. "You're all beat up again, what happened?" Konekomaru asked in concern.

Rin forced a laugh. "Oh, you know, I seem to have bad luck with demons, is all," he said, deflecting the question. "It's okay that I didn't get a lantern, I'll just get paired up with a senior exorcist like Yukio or something. Right, Yukio?"

His true brother nodded defeatedly. "Sure, Rin."

The other exwires looked skeptical but didn't question it further.

* * *

The next day, they returned to True Cross. All of them were sore, tired, and dirty, and looking forward to hot showers and real beds. On their way back to the Academy from the station, however, the party was stopped by an unfamiliar figure in a pure white uniform.

"Ah, hello, children," he said dismissively. "And Shura."

Shura made a face and strode towards the front of the group, eyebrow twitching.

"Well, well, if it ain't the Angel himself. Why are you here, Mr. Angel?"

The exwires all looked confused, but Rin noticed that Yukio was rapidly paling and muttering. "Oh this is not good..."

The blond man grinned and said, "The Vatican noticed a couple of things, you know, some spurts of concentrated demonic energy. There was also a report of a blue flame sighting, can you believe that?" He said lightly. Rin thought he was beginning to understand Yukio's misgivings. Angel was apparently a high-ranking exorcist reporting to the Grigori itself.

"Hey," Suguro said, butting in. "Excuse me, I don't meant to be rude but we just got back from training camp. I don't know about the others but I want a shower and some sleep. So would it be possible for you two to finish your business later?"

Angel looked appraisingly at Suguro. "You've got guts, kid," he said, but let them pass nonetheless. Rin chose to glance sideways at the man as he passed, only to meet an icy blue gaze, staring him down. He turned forward and hurried away, worried he'd give himself away.

 _What would this mean for him?_


	14. Chapter 14: The Grigori

**So. Anyway. NaNoWriMo this year has me working on lots of different projects, this is one of them. Also busy with studying and stuff for college exams, and yeah. But at least it's not dead, right?**

Disclaimer - I don't own Blue Exorcist.

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"I heard from Shura that you wanted another sparring partner," Angel said, popping up beside Rin.

"I guess so."

"What do you say? I consider myself a decent swordsman – I couldn't have become Arc Knight if I wasn't!" Angel laughed, and Rin raised an eyebrow. But still, he was talented, and Rin would have fun fighting with him.

"When and where? I have classes until three in the afternoon, but Cram School was going to be a practical today, so I'll probably be able to skip that." Rin explained.

"How about four-thirty, in practice room five? It should be empty by that time."

"Sounds good to me. I'll be there."

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Rin arrived at the practice room a bit early in order to warm up, only to see that the rest of the Cram School class, headed by Yukio and Shura. He frowned.

"What are you all doing here?" He asked.

It was Shura who answered. "We thought it would be a good lesson for the kiddos, ta see how a _real_ exorcist fights."

Rin laughed. Trust Shura to throw in a subtle dig on his heritage. "Oh, they'll get a show. By the way, what _did_ you tell Angel? I never asked you about a sparring partner."

"Oh, I just told 'im I had a new Exwire wantin' ta practice his sword skills. 'E's gonna be in for a real surprise." Shura grinned wickedly and Rin chuckled. Yukio just rolled his eyes.

Rin removed a sheathed Kurikara from off of his back and handed it to Yukio. "Take care of it, will ya? I've got to use a regular sword for this." Yukio nodded resignedly.

"Just – be careful, okay Rin? Angel is no slouch."

"I'll be fine, Yukio." Rin grabbed a practice sword and did a few kata, adjusting to the feel and weight of it.

As soon as the bell tolled the half-hour, Angel arrived with his usual flamboyance. "Are you ready? Oh, hello, what have we here?"

"Heya, Angel," Shura said. "This is our Exwire class, who you've already met..." Angel looked nonplussed.

"Yes, of course...this will be a teaching moment! All right, ready?" Rin nodded and fell into a loose, easy stance. Angel's eyes narrowed.

"Begin!" Yukio announced, and Rin sprang toward Angel, who hadn't been expecting his speed or power but still managed to block him sufficiently. Rin loved seeing the play of emotions going through Angels eyes – the shock and surprise, then annoyance, then anger, then determination, and then – suspicion. He grinned in a way that was really him baring his teeth in an intimidation tactic.

Rin flipped back in order to let Angel recover. Once he'd gotten back his balance he went on the offensive, striking at Rin, which he dodged. The two sped up and the spar turned into a proper, dirty fight. Rin's eyes lit up from within, the adrenaline slightly clouding his thoughts.

Just after a particularly violent exchange of hits, Angel pulled something off his belt and winged it at Rin. Not thinking much of it – it was supposed to just be a practice spar, after all, though it had gotten a bit intense – he cleaved it in two before it could hit him. A fine mist sprayed out of it, peppering Rin's face and hands. He howled in pain and fell to the ground, writhing in pain and rubbing desperately at his eyes, his sword clattering against the floor.

"I knew it!" Angel yelled triumphantly, breathing hard. The Exwires were all frozen in shock, watching their friend and classmate convulsing on the ground.

"What was that?" Shiemi gasped. "It's hurting him!"

"That was a canister of the highest-grade holy water, Miss Moriyama. That would have done nothing if your friend Rin was fully human. But he isn't, as you can see – he is at least part-demon." Angel paused and stalked towards Rin, who was trying to get up, a painful-looking violent red rash apparent on his visible skin.

"In fact," Angel continued, "I believe that Rin here isn't just any old demon, but the son of the Demon Lord himself! Isn't that right, _boy_?" Angel placed the tip of his blade under Rin's chin and he froze, stuck in an awkward half-upright position. "Well? Is it?"

Rin glared at Angel and said hoarsely, "Yes, it is true. I am his son by blood and flame." Rin coughed and wiped his mouth, a smear of darker red on the back of his hand. "But that was not by my choice and it is something I cannot control."

"Nobody cares what you think, you demon _scum_. I was sent here in order to investigate the blue flame sighting and the sizable increase of demonic energy around here. I have fulfilled my mission, and now I am going to take you to the Vatican and let the Grigori decide what to do with you. It would be in your best interests – not that that amounts to much – to cooperate."

Rin could barely move, thanks to the toxic effects the holy water had on his body, and so was forced to comply with Angel's orders. As he was dragged out of the room, he asked Yukio, "Please...take it to Mephisto." Yukio nodded, expression grave. Shura gave him a helpless look and he in turn offered her a weak smile that was undermined by the dribble of blood leaking from the corner of his mouth.

Next were the other Exwires, his fellow classmates. Rin searched their faces, but the only expressions he saw were shock and betrayal.

Angel yanked roughly on his arm, and Rin lurched forward. The Exorcist inserted a key into the door and turned, opening it to a courtroom. Rin was shoved forward, into the center of the floor. He looked around to see men sitting in the balconies surrounding him.

"What is the name of the accused?" A voice boomed. Rin couldn't tell where it was coming from, but he faced the front and replied weakly, still suffering the effects of the holy water.

"Rin." He heard a gasp and looked up. There was a man there, familiar, short gray hair.

"Is there something you would like to say, Paladin?"

The man stood straight. "Yes, there is." Rin's eyes widened. It was Shiro Fujimoto. The man who had raised him. The man who he considered his father. He hadn't changed at all, it would seem. "I believe that this young man does not pose a danger to us. We should hear him out before we decide his fate."

Before the trial could continue, the doors banged open, and Mephisto entered the courtroom. Rin knew his chances of immediate survival had increased drastically.

"Hello there!" Mephisto said grandly. "I see I have arrived just in time!"

The voice came again. "Mephisto Pheles, you have not been invited to participate in this trial. What have you to say for yourself?"

"I come bearing evidence to show that this young man is harmless," Mephisto said innocently.

"Evidence? Harmless? We know that he is Satan's son, and that he is able to utilize the blue flames. What evidence do you have that could prove his benevolence?"

"Oh, just this sword," he said, waving Kurikara at them. "Did you know, that Rin here has just been poisoned by holy water, administered to him by one of your own Arc Knights so that he would not be able to defend himself, or practically move at all?"

There was silence. Mephisto shrugged before continuing on. "Well, this boy has proclaimed to me that he does not in any way support his biological father. I dare say that if we give him a chance, he will agree to aid us in our crusade against the Demon King."

"You mentioned the sword, Mephisto," the voice said. "Why is that important?"

Mephisto frowned and his face grew serious. "Since you have ignored my attempts at getting you to empathize, I will use cold logic. The fact is that this sword controls the boy's access to his flames and the majority of his demon attributes. That is why he appears, at the moment, to be human. If I unsheathe this sword," he said while doing so, "blue flames will spring up, like so." And indeed, Rin's body was wreathed is blue fire.

Rin gave Mephisto a look of gratitude. Having his flame with gave him strength, enough to fight off the effects of the holy water and start to heal the damage it had inflicted. Mephisto re-sheathed the sword before Rin was completely healed. Rin didn't begrudge him that; if he had appeared perfectly fine there was little doubt that he would be given another dose of holy water.

"Whoever controls the sword, controls the fire. That is my first point. My second point is that this boy has the potential to become our greatest ally. This power is immense, and the boy already is able to control it competently. With his demonic abilities, he would no doubt be able to match one of your Arc Knights in battle. Finally – well, you've allied yourself to me, haven't you? And look at everything I've done for you."

Rin heard murmuring and whispers echo throughout the massive chamber. He looked forward, away from Mephisto, and met the gaze of the man who had once been his surrogate father. Fujimoto looked hopeful, and Rin shot him a small grin and winked. He laughed, and Rin felt a tiny bubble of warmth in his chest.

"We have come to a decision," the voice sounded. "We will allow Rin to live, as long as he promises to ally himself with the True Cross Order and he is watched by one of our own – Shiro Fujimoto."

"I swear," Rin said, preempting their request, "on my flames, to ally myself with the True Cross Order and to do everything in my power to bring down Satan."

"That is satisfactory. You are dismissed."

Rin heaved a sigh of relief. He was glad that was over, and that he didn't have to hide so urgently anymore. He heard quick footsteps, and was confronted by Fujimoto. The older man drew himself up and then hesitated.

"Hello, Old Man," he said with a grin. "Nice to see you again."

Fujimoto smiled and grabbed Rin in a bear hug, stuffing him into his chest. Rin stiffened, then relaxed, and hugged him back, feeling him shuddering. "Hey, Old Man, I ain't going anywhere."

Fujimoto pulled back, holding Rin by the shoulders. "You've gotten so big," he said. "Taller than me now." Rin gave him a crooked grin.

"You know it, Old Man!"

"Still not an adult though..." Fujimoto said, mock-seriously. Rin fake-growled.

"Hello!" Mephisto called, grabbing their attention. "Well, Rin, how did you like that? Thanks to your wonderfully talented oldest brother, you are now free to do whatever you want. Oh, and you're welcome too, Shiro."

"Thanks," Rin grudgingly replied, Fujimoto echoing it a bit more enthusiastically.

"You're quite welcome."

* * *

 **A/N: This one felt a bit rushed, and I had to drag it out of my head. It didn't come willingly, so sorry if that affected the quality.**

 **Also, sorry, it's kind of short.**


	15. Chapter 15: The Left Eye

**Disclaimer: I don't own Blue Exorcist. All rights go to whatever people and franchises actually _do_ have the rights.**

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"I'm guessing whatever we're doing is in the middle of that huge crowd of humans?" Rin asked, no small amount of distaste clouding his tone. It was a hot day, and humans didn't smell great packed together in normal weather conditions, let alone a midsummer day. Yukio didn't answer.

"It's too hot for this, I'm dyin'…" Shura complained.

"It's not so bad," Rin said. "Gehenna's constantly hot, and even more humid. What's bad about this is the smell."

"Oh, poor little demon," she said. "Humans are such smelly creatures."

" _Knock it off, you two!_ " Yukio hissed at them out of the corner of his mouth. " _We're here on assignment._ "

"Oh, thanks for coming, Okumura," one of the multiple exorcists said as he let them under the tape surrounding the scene. Yukio just nodded, not paying the man much attention, and Rin also decided to dismiss him as weak; not a threat. Not that he was supposed to be in the first place; Rin kept forgetting he was relatively safe from the exorcist order, thanks to Mephisto's meddling.

A different man who had been sitting on the curb stood and approached them. Rin instantly went on guard – something about this man set off alarm bells in his head. Just – something – he wasn't sure yet.

"Sorry I took so long," Yukio said. Rin didn't get why he was apologizing. It made him look weak, especially in front of a possible enemy. It made Rin uncomfortable. Didn't Yukio know anything? "I'm a Middle First Class, Yukio Okumura."

"Yeah, I'm Upper First Class Kirigakure..." Shura trailed off as she realized she wasn't getting any attention and frowned, thoroughly annoyed. Rin couldn't help but smirk in amusement.

The man nodded. "I'm – huh? Who's this kid?" Rin looked around. What kid? There wasn't anyone behind him but the rest of the crowd, so he turned back around in confusion, only to realize the man was referring to him. A kid? He growled, low in his throat, and the man moved back a step. Coward.

"That's my brother Rin," Yukio said, obviously trying to calm the situation down. "I think it would be best if you didn't insult him in any way."

The man's eyes widened in fear. "Y-y-you – is he _safe_?" He cried.

And then Shura intervened. "Weeelll..." Rin almost smiled when she dragged out the word, obviously frightening the man more than he already was. "While yer concern is underestan'able, this was decided by the 'igher ups'. We're gonna be keepin' 'im in check – " Rin huffed, and Shura shot him a glare, before turning her attention back to the man. " – so just trust us, yeah?"

Rin turned and started poking around the area while Yukio talked to the man. He heard most of the information – Todou, Impure King, Left Eye, stolen by a mysterious figure. The Impure King, huh? He sniffed. Sure enough, the stench of rot was heavy in the air – he'd smelled it as they approached, but hadn't thought it would be as serious as the Impure King. He'd never actually met the demon in question, but he was quite familiar with Astaroth and had heard stories. If said demon was awakened, it would not be easy for the humans to defeat him.

"...and then he took a young boy – Satoru – " Rin whipped around and stuck his face right next to Todou's so the man could see his eyes. Rin knew when he was angry his pupils got ragged, and he wanted Todou to see it to know he was being completely and utterly serious, and that any hesitation could result in death.

"The thief took a boy? How old was he?"

The lady sitting on the curb near where they were standing sniffed and looked up at them. "He was just about to turn eight, next week, but..."

Rin was angry. Seven. Just a year older than when Rin himself was kidnapped and taken to Gehenna. Just a year older than when Rin discovered there was evil everywhere. Just a year older than when Rin had lost his innocence, and still it was far too soon for any child to lose theirs.

He turned to her, a fierce look in his eyes. "I swear to you, we'll save him. We'll save your kid, no matter what." He turned towards the building from which the scent of rot was emanating. "I'm going in."

Yukio grabbed his shoulder. "Rin," he said, almost frantically, "you can't just do that! First off, we may not be able to save the boy, and second, we don't know anything about the thief, and none of us are inoculated - "

"Then get a party together as fast as you can, because I'm going in in five minutes."

Five minutes later, Yukio, Todou, and several others were suited up and carrying vaccines. They approached the building hesitantly, the figure in the lead holding a birdcage, but Rin scoffed and strode in. The miasma couldn't hurt him – he'd gone from partial immunity from his demon heritage to full immunity because the air there was polluted with it and he'd gotten constant exposure. He left them behind, intent on finding the kid before he actually died.

He made his way up several flights of stairs, rickety from the rot that had seeped into the wood, and followed his nose to the boy. He was laying down at the end of the hall under an open window, the light shining down on the massive boils covering his neck. Rin winced in sympathy. It looked disgusting, and he knew from experience that the type of boils on the boy were incredibly painful. He picked up the boy as gently as he could, trying not to jostle him, and turned around to a cloaked figure in his path.

Rin growled, low in his throat, and flames wisped around him. There was the one who had stolen this boy from his mother, who had stolen his carefree childhood. But there was the boy to think about, and so Rin had to choose. He backed away slowly, until his back was touching the wall and the window was directly behind him. Rin jumped and kicked his foot backwards, channeling his flames so it would blow the wall out as Rin fell.

Rin twisted in midair to the best position for the kid – it was going to hurt for him no matter what, but he didn't want to accidentally snap his neck when he landed – so he hugged the kid to his chest and braced for impact. Luckily, they were only on the third story, so Rin didn't fall too far – the jolt wasn't bad at all. At least for him. The kid cried out in pain, and Rin quickly laid him down. By some miracle – or rather, Rin's demonic luck – none of his bones had broken and none of the boils had burst.

"Hey!" He yelled – the exorcists were just gawking at them – what a bunch of idiots. "Does anybody have a vaccine or somethin'?" A second later one of the idiots hurried forward, fumbling with a syringe.

"Hey." Rin caught the guy's attention. "Take a breath. Be careful." Rin wasn't usually one for giving advice or reassurance, but he really didn't want the kid to die, especially because of some bumbling idiot who could have saved his life. The man carefully stuck the needles into the boy's neck, and just moments later they began to shrink. Rin breathed a sigh of relief and grinned, big enough that the tips of his sharp canines were visible.

The lady ran over, having been made aware, and Rin turned towards her. "He'll be fine, as long as you get him to a hospital soon. He'll be fine." The lady started crying, and Rin's grin shrank as quickly as it had appeared. She sobbed and hugged him. He froze. Human contact like this... he didn't think he'd been hugged since before he was kidnapped. Slowly he relaxed. Her arms were warm. Hesitantly, he placed his arms around her as well. It almost felt like he was a little kid again, and he reveled in the feeling for a moment before he was forced to let go.

"Thank you," she said, looking up at him tearfully.

He cleared his throat. "Yeah, whatever," he said. "No problem." _He was strong, darn it! He didn't show emotion!_

A snapping noise caught Rin's attention – it was coming from the building the kid had been in, and he was worried the stairs or something had collapsed. He turned quickly; it was only Todou...

But something was wrong. It was _only_ Todou; none of the others had exited the building with him. And there was something... Rin sniffed and squinted at the man. Possession? When did that happen? He was about to go after the man, but there was Yukio to consider – he hesitated an agonizing moment, but went back to the building. After being with Yukio such a short time, he wasn't willing to lose him again. It didn't matter how important Todou might have been.

He raced up the fully intact stairs and past several prone bodies on the floor. Yukio was standing up, examining something in his hands, body unnaturally still.

"Look, Rin," he said in a strangled voice, holding up the item. It was a black ball, a strange circular pattern printed on the side. "It was a fake all along, that traitor Todou was lying."

"I _knew_ something was off about him, why didn't I realize...?" Rin said aloud, annoyed at himself. He was better than that, he should have been able to tell the man smelled of rot – both literally and figuratively. He resolved right then to get back to a proper training schedule, realizing guiltily that he hadn't really kept up with it and wondering what Thaziel would say.

"It's not your fault, Rin," Yukio said, bringing Rin back to the present. "Can you help me take these guys down? Todou somehow knocked them all out."

Rin nodded, and managed to lift all three of them over his shoulders. The both of them went down, and once they'd reached the street Rin dumped the men off onto the sidewalk, getting a small amount of amusement from their groans. Weaklings.

"Just what you'd expect from the Okumuras," Rin heard. He sighed. Great. A pain-in-the-tail older brother, come to patronize them. He didn't care. Much.

"Excellent work – but, we lost. Apparently this incident was merely a ploy to distract us, as the genuine Left Eye has been stolen."

"Well, I got a familiar trackin' it, so...yeah..." Shura added.

"And what's the point, Samael? Why are you telling us this?" Rin asked, ignoring Shura. "And say it straight." He really wasn't in the mood for mind games, after the emotionally compromising situation had drained most of his tolerance for human – or rather, any – interaction.

"Well, since you asked _so politely_ , I shall give you all the information you could ever wish for about the situation - " Mephisto caught Rin's glare. "Or I could just say this: Yukio, you will be heading a team to go after the Left Eye, as you were the only one to have contact with the enemy. I will be seeing you at the Central Base in one hour."

"...Understood."

"And you, Rin...you'll be staying with Shura and the other Exwires, to go make sure the situation in Kyoto with the Right Eye is stable. Got that?"

"...Fine." He paused, then turned to his brother. "Hey, Yukio."

Yukio looked at him questioningly.

"It doesn't matter if you don't get it. Even if the Impure King gets revived, I'll just kill 'im again. Nothing's gonna beat me. So don't worry about it, alright?" Yukio gave him a wry grin as he turned away.

"Keep thinking that, Rin. Don't ever change."

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry for the long wait. Moving out of my apartment, and then the two-day plane ride, and then three weeks without WiFi, and yeah... But I updated!**

 **Sorry it's short, too...**

 **Um. But also, just wanted to say, I really love writing Mephisto. It's really fun.**


	16. Chapter 16: To Kyoto!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Blue Exorcist.**

 **Props to all of you faithful readers, for putting up with my really weird update schedule. It makes me grin whenever I look at the number of alerts and faves that I have (and then whoever's around me looks at me in suspicion and asks me what I'm planning... I don't think my smile is that scary...)**

 **But seriously. Thanks.**

* * *

"Kyoto?" Rin said aloud, even though he knew Shura wasn't really paying attention to him – she was listening to Yukio's update on the Left Eye – and flipped a page in the guidebook he was holding. "Nice, maybe I'll actually be able to relax a bit, what d'you say, Kuro?"

' _It sounds fun to me,_ ' he thought, and Rin smiled and took a seat near the front of the train. His nose twitched as he caught the scents of his classmates, but he didn't look up; they had been ignoring him as of late, so he'd ignore them right back. As expected, they passed right by him, Konekomaru's breathing speeding up until the smaller boy was at least five rows back.

It was discomfiting. It made Rin feel odd, a strange hollowness present in his chest. He couldn't be missing them, could he? If they were afraid of him, that made them weak, and that meant he shouldn't be associating with them. Right? But then – a sudden jolt in the seat made him aware of someone sitting down on the seat next to him. He glanced up – it was Kamiki. The corners of his mouth twitched up, and it seemed to him as if the hollowness lessened.

She noticed him staring at her. "What?"

He smiled. "Nothing." His head went back down to his book and he read about the Kyoto Tower, not really taking in any of the details because his mind was focused on the girl next to him and the warmth that had buzzed in his chest, like he had too much flame energy in him (and they still hadn't been able to fully repair the training ground from when the energy had bubbled over) but he knew that wasn't the case, as his flames were stored safely in Gehenna.

It was hard being a human.

The rest of the train ride passed without incident. Well, not that Rin knew of, he'd been asleep for all but the last and first fifteen minutes – but nobody was injured upon arrival in Kyoto so he assumed that it had been an unexciting trip.

And then they actually got to where they were going, and there was a brief spate of fireworks.

"Ryuuji!" Suguro looked apprehensive, and Rin realized the woman yelling was both the owner of the establishment in which they would be staying and Suguro's mother. This was gonna be good...

"...You...you _actually_ went and _dyed_ your hair, huh...!" She yelled, and Rin muffled his quiet snickers in his jacket sleeve. "You wanna turn into a _chicken_ or something next!? You sure have guts, setting foot into this inn again, didn't you say you were going to go study?" By this time Suguro had moved so he was right in front of her and was yelling back about coincidences and assignments and chickens.

Rin heard Shima laughing as well, and turned to hear him say, "I just knew he was going to get it for that hair...!"

But by that time Konekomaru decided that enough yelling and arguing had taken place and was intervening, notifying the lady of the others present. She turned towards them, saying, "Neko-chan, and Renzou! It's good to see that you're both well..." Rin was a bit startled at her sudden change in temperament.

She then noticed the others standing in the background. "And you must be his friends from the cram school! Pleased to meet you, I'm Ryuuji's mother."

Rin wasn't quite sure what to do – his only real experience with meeting new people – that weren't demons, at least – was at the cram school, and Mephisto had told him exactly what he needed to do. This, however, was a different situation entirely, and he looked to his fellow exwires for assistance, but they weren't much help. Kamiki was snickering and muttering about a bon-bon, Shiemi was smiling shyly, Shima and Konekomaru had already greeted her, and as usual Takara was silent.

Rin shrugged and decided he'd employ the manners Thaziel had beat into him between training sessions.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," he said, bowing low. "Bon never told us his mother was so beautiful." Suguro shot him a look, but Rin knew he wouldn't start anything in front of his mother, who had accepted the compliment unashamedly.

And then Shura butted in, thanking Suguro's mother and offering her a gift before heading off, also telling Suguro, Konekomaru, and Shima to say hello to their families and the rest of the exwires to go help.

Shima, Suguro and Konekomaru were led away by Suguro's mother and the rest of the exwires followed another exorcist – Yunokawa – to the sickroom. Rin looked around, dismayed. There wasn't anything he could do! Sure, he moved a couple boxes around, and they were heavy enough, but it was only a couple and that left plenty of time in which to be bored. So he went around, asking what he could do, only to get the runaround and eventually he went to sit outside in the hallway so he wouldn't lose his temper and end up burning something on accident.

He heard a panel slide open a ways down the hall and snapped his head around.

"Hey, can you give me a hand down here?" He heard, and he relaxed and stood, grateful for something to do.

"Sure."

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry it's so short. I just want to assure my faithful readers that I am not planning on abandoning this story! Don't worry – more is coming soon.**

 **I also want to give special thanks to my very first reviewer, Not an expert, for telling me that I accidentally updated code instead of the actual document when I copy-and-pasted my first chapter. (How embarrassing is that?)**

 **Also, special thanks to Reading Pixie, Yesani-chan, vampireharry the 2, and Doctor Merlin Reid for sticking with me since practically the beginning and dealing with my ridiculous update schedule.**


	17. Chapter 17: The Right Eye

**Disclaimer: I don't own Blue Exorcist.**

* * *

"Watermelons?" Rin couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten watermelon. It must have been before he'd been taken to Gehenna, for sure. He remembered one time that he and Yukio had finished an entire watermelon by themselves – not leaving any for the other priests.

"Yes, I'm going to visit the sick and distribute them. Do you think you could cut them up for me?" Rin nodded, taking the knife as he passed the man. He wrinkled his nose as he caught the sickly sweet scent of alcohol. What kind of priest drank in the middle of the day?

"Drinking already?" He asked, wondering if the man would own up or try to deny it. He was surprised when the man laughed and admitted to drinking, making some lame excuse about the heat.

"Such an interesting boy you are..." The priest said, and Rin frowned at the watermelons. "You're from the cram school, right? What's your name?"

"Okumura Rin," he told him, and he could feel the priest stiffen. He glanced up at the man to see his eyes wide in shock. "Who are you?"

"Oh, me? I'm Suguro Ryuuji's dad."

Rin almost dropped the knife and it almost landed on his foot, but he caught it at the last second and placed it on the cutting board.

"Seriously?" The old man was short, and round, nothing like he had imagined. Suguro was much taller than both his parents, as well as far more solidly built – not soft, like his father, but hard, like a warrior. For both his parents to be so _not_ like him was... really strange.

"So you know Ryuuji, then?" The old man asked, and Rin nodded.

"Yes."

A moment passed, and the old man spoke again. "I've met your father, as well."

Rin's hand automatically moved to the hilt of his sword and he moved to high alert, but he wasn't going to make any further moves unless the man made a clear threat.

"He came here, you know, to get that sword you carry on your back," he said, and Rin relaxed. He was talking about Fujimoto, then; which probably meant he also knew about his true parentage – but as long as he didn't say it aloud, Rin would stay. "It was a little before your birth. I was still young, then, and many of our temple were falling grievously ill – including my pregnant wife and my father, who insisted all we needed to do was pray harder. I didn't know what to do."

"They told me to enter a state of Mushin, so I did, and I tried – but nothing worked. Suddenly – in the middle of a ritual – a monster fell from the sky in front of me – dead. A man was standing on top of it, wearing what I now know to be the exorcist uniform. He was smoking a cigarette and holding a sword on his shoulder, standing on the top of the beast, looking down on us. I don't think I had ever seen anything more impressive before then."

Rin sat, watermelons long forgotten, and listened to the tale the priest was telling. The man was an amazing storyteller, engaging his audience and somehow managing to re-capture the emotion of the moment and somehow describe it in a way that others could understand.

"But then I realized that the sword he was holding was the Koumaken – our honzon. He was stealing it from us. He said something about it being empty, and then Shima-san, Renzou's father, attacked, but just before he made contact – your father fell."

"He _fell_?" The old man was the _Paladin_. He didn't just _fall_ , he _dodged_. The priest smiled at him.

"He fell," he affirmed. "He had already been badly injured, so we brought him to the temple and bandaged his wounds. When he woke, I asked him about why he was trying to steal the Koumaken, and he told me he was ordered to by his superiors – who had given him the direction to kill children with it. Of course, I could not let that stand, and pulled out a small knife, but he ran.

"He ended up running straight into our sickroom, and when there he kicked over the altar. We got into an argument, and he accused me of being a coward, for not doing everything I could once I realized praying was not going to heal them. I was ashamed, so ashamed..."

There was a pause, and Rin could practically taste the regret he could see flitting across the older man's face.

"Your father – he healed them. He made medicine, and showed us how to make it as well, until the sick were well on their way to recovery. I didn't know what to do with my faith, then; everything I had believed had not accomplished anything, while a stranger from a foreign land was able to heal them in just a few days. He saved their lives – asking for the sword in return.

"My own father, however – he thought it blasphemy that a 'pagan' was practicing 'spells' in our temple, and ordered him to be captured and killed. I knew, though, that what he had said the first time about the sword being empty – that it was true. The sword had, previously, been the vessel of a demon's power, but the demon had left, leaving the empty vessel behind.

"So, in return for saving the lives of so many of our branch, I secretly gave him the sword, and he ran. I knew that he would not be able to kill children with that sword – that is why I gave it to him. I see now that I was correct in the assumption I made so many years ago."

The sat in silence, both thinking, pondering on the story shared.

"Why did you tell me that story?" Rin asked after several moments. It was interesting, sure – but why did he need to know about it?

Suguro's dad looked surprised. "Well, you know – " he stopped short, a curious look on his face. "I actually don't know!" He laughed, and Rin frowned. "Perhaps it was to help you understand."

With that cryptic statement, the head priest stood, dusted himself off, and turned to Rin.

"Aren't you going to deliver those watermelons?"

Rin was startled out of his pensive mood and looked down at the forgotten fruit. He leaned down to pick them up. By the time he was standing straight again, facing the door, Suguro's father was out of sight and so Rin turned to deliver the watermelons to the sickroom.

* * *

It turned out delivering food was a common job; as soon as Rin had dropped off the watermelons to the sickroom and made sure everyone had some they were carrying lunch boxes around. Rin took several, looping his arms through the top and carrying one in each had despite the chef and Suguro's mother's protests.

"No, really, it's fine," he assured them. "I'm strong." He made his way out to, smirking as he heard Shima grunt as he lifted a stack of his own boxes.

It wasn't long before all the meals had been delivered to the Branch Office building, and Rin and the other exwires gathered in front of Shura.

"You guys must be exhausted after all that work you did today – go and get some rest."

"Forget rest!" Rin said emphatically. After making one trip after another with that smell wafting up at him, he wanted a proper meal before sleeping. "I want food!"

"...Fine. Take those bento over there." Rin took one off the top of a small stack nearby and headed outside. He looked back while only a few steps away from the table; the others were taking their own boxes but heading in different directions. Suguro headed back to the road and Rin caught Konekomaru's fearful glance in his direction before he followed Suguro at a near-run. Rin scowled and turned abruptly to go sit on a rock outside.

He was surprised when Shima came outside as well, but a little confused when the other boy sat across the path from him. Human usually sat next to each other when eating, right? Not several meters apart? A cool night breeze blew suddenly, stirring leaves on the ground and making Rin shiver. He didn't usually shiver, most of the time his flames kept him warm enough.

"Aren't you sitting a little far away?" He asked.

"A-am I really?" Shima stuttered, and then Rin understood. Shima was afraid of him as well. He sighed. Really, he wasn't going to hurt them. That would be stupid – they were part of his team. Besides – he hadn't ever really _wanted_ to hurt them, despite how annoying Suguro could be sometimes.

"Lame," he muttered, making sure it was audible even to Shima. "Well, it's to be expected – you _are_ uncool, after all."

Shima spluttered. "What are you talking about!" He pointed his chopsticks straight at Rin. "I'm the _coolest_!"

Rin smirked. His smirk turned into a grin, and then soon full-blown laughter. "You? Cool? You don't even make it onto my list of cool people!" He took his paper from his pocket and showed it to Shima. "Look – first is Iblis, then Fujimoto, then Thaziel, then me, then Suguro, then Konekomaru, and then Kuro and Yukio. You are about – " He pointed to a spot in the air several inches below the edge of the paper. "Here."

"You're horrible!" Shima exclaimed, actually standing up. They stared each other down for several moments before Shima snorted and his fierce expression devolved into laughter. He said something about not getting involved... then trying to avoid him... then the whole thing being useless. He finished with, "Everyone is taking this way too serious, even Bon and Koneko."

Rin raised an eyebrow. "And you be way too uncool."

* * *

Rin yawned, barely able to keep his eyes open. His head _hurt_. What had he been doing last night? His ears caught something from where Suguro and Konekomaru were sitting behind him.

"Could our teacher have mixed up her drinks with ours? It's rare to see her without alcohol, after all..."

That would explain it. He tuned out, fixed on filling his empty stomach. He'd barely put the first bite in his mouth when Shima stopped in front of him.

"Did you get back to your room alright last night?" He asked, and Rin grimaced.

"Don't really remember," he admitted. Shima laughed.

"Guess I made the right choice, then... " He frowned. "That sounds familiar... " And indeed it did; someone was calling Shima's name and Rin could have sworn he'd heard the person's voice before. And that was when a very familiar person kicked Shima in the back to send him flying.

"What do you think you're _doing_ , Kin-nii!" Shima yelled, sitting up and rubbing his head.

"A flying kick, _duh_ , you idiot."

"You're the idiot, you freaking idiot!"

"Renzou! Great to see you looking as lively as ever," the other figure said.

"Ugh, not you too," Shima groaned. Rin couldn't help it, he busted out laughing. It reminded him of himself and Iblis – ooh, scary thought – Iblis and the two older Shima brothers.

"Oh, yeah," Shima said, "This is my friend, Rin Okumura. Rin, these are my brothers Kinzou and Juuzou." Rin grinned and stood.

"We've met."

"Yeah, good to see you again – nice bedhead, by the way."

"Hey – hey – Rin – do you want to go take a dip in the pool?" Shima's question, though asked with the best intentions, made Rin blanch. The last time he'd been anywhere near a large body of water, Egyn had been trying to 'accidentally' drown him.

"Uh, no, sorry – I'll have to pass on that one. I'd rather train." Training, at least, was practical and satisfying.

"Good idea, Rin," Kinzou said. "Let's go train, too, Renzou – how about a match with your big brother!"

* * *

Rin was rather at a loss as to what he should be doing. He'd wanted to train, but the training necessary to actually help him – at least on the physical side – was too destructive to do anywhere near any buildings.

So he was rather grateful when Shura came along with a bunch of candles showed him the exercise he was currently performing on the roof. Lighting only the wicks of the two candles on the ends required mental focus and confidence in his powers and the control he had over them. The confidence he had in spades; the mental focus was a little lacking and he would be the first to admit that. After all, knowing one's own limitations could be the deciding factor in a fight and he knew his better than most, having grown up how he did.

That being said, his first attempt to light the candles wasn't too bad. He got the two candles on the ends, but instead of just the wick – well, at least half of the candle on the right was melted and the one on the left was barely smoking. External manipulation of his flames, it seemed, especially when so specific, was something he needed to work on more.

After half an hour of hit-and-miss practicing, he stood and jumped off the edge of the roof. He needed a break. He stuck his head under the tap and turned it on, wetting his head to try and disperse some of the heat. He heard a low murmur from somewhere to his right and turned; it was Konekomaru.

He was praying – and hadn't he said, just before, that he was going to greet his parents? Rin walked up behind him and sat down quietly, keeping his movement silent so Konekomaru wouldn't notice him before he finished. When the smaller boy looked like he was done, Rin spoke.

"I never knew my mother, either, Konekomaru." he said. Konekomaru leapt to his feet, clearly startled, and looked at Rin, an expression of fear darkening his features.

"You! I – I don't want you going near Bon ever again!" Okay, now he was confused.

"We aren't talking about Bon," he argued. "We're talking about you."

Konekomaru looked down at the ground. "I – I don't have anything..." He said, voice low and soft. "I don't have parents, nor relatives – the Myou Dha took me in, and I want to repay them by working for them in the future. That's why... anyone who threatens it is my enemy!"

At the last exclamation, the boy's eyes flashed, looking Rin straight on, a defiant expression on his face.

Oh.

"But – I'm not a threat!" Rin exclaimed. "Why would you think I'm a threat?"

"Because you're Satan's son!" And that was the crux of it, wasn't it? The Blue Flames, the Blue Night – the night, most likely, in which Konekomaru's parents died. "You're a demon!"

"Half-demon, actually." Konekomaru looked boggled.

"What?"

"Half-demon. My mother was human. You trust Yukio, don't you? He's a half-demon too – my twin brother. That means his father is Satan, too, even if he doesn't have the blue flame." Rin flexed his hand, allowing a ball of it to coalesce over his palm, then closed his hand, snuffing it out. Konekomaru looked fascinated.

"It's true that I mostly grew up with demons. But I was born in Assiah, and stolen from my adoptive family when I was six years old and taken to my father. Gehenna was... it wasn't pleasant. I much prefer being here, in Assiah. If I did anything to the Myou Dha – well, let's just say it's the equivalent of buying a one-way ticket back to Gehenna. If you don't trust my character, at least trust my selfishness."

His mood soured, Rin leapt back onto the roof and sat down to begin practicing once more.

* * *

 _Come on, come on... I only need a little bit... just the tip of the wick..._

He opened his eyes and stared at the candles. He released a small bit of his flame energy and...

"Yeah, I did it! I did it! Did you see that, Shura! Ha!" She looked suitably impressed, and stood to go over and inspect the candles.

"Looks like you really did it." He stood and stretched luxuriantly. It was about time.

Something off in the distance caught his eye and he squinted. "Smoke?" He knelt and placed his hand flat on the roof. "The ground is trembling, too."

"Where?" Shura asked, and he pointed. "That's the direction of the branch office. Not good."

* * *

When they got there, it looked like a bomb had gone off. Part of the ground had collapsed, revealing a huge underground chamber where people were gathered. They made their way down, only to see Suguro yelling at his father.

"If you're just going to brush this off without saying anything, I'll never acknowledge you as my father – not till the day I die!"

There was a moment of quiet, in which Suguro's dad bowed his head and then turned. "...Now, I must go... please, pardon me." He went to walk away and made it a few steps before Rin was there, grabbing the cloth of his robe, stopping him.

"Hold it," Rin said, voice low, a rage working its way through his veins. He hadn't gotten to say goodbye to his own dad before he was taken to the demon who was his father. His father, who was the King of demons and who had killed thousands – including, albeit indirectly, his mother. He thought of Thaziel, the one who had been able to act as his father while in Gehenna, and how, now that Rin was safe in Assiah, was most likely dead.

"Okumura...?"

"Why are you walking away? Aren't you Suguro's _dad_?" He breathed deep, attempting to control his anger – and his flames. "And _you_ , Suguro!" He turned and punched him, right in the face.

"I don't know the details," he growled, "But I'll say this, I know you're gonna regret it later if I don't. Listen to me! Apologize to your dad!"

Suguro glared at him. "Shut up! This has _nothing_ to do with you!"

"Don't cut off your father so nonchalantly!" Rin yelled, glaring back at him, fire in his eyes.

"I don't want to be told that by _you_ \- you, the one who said he'd defeat Satan! You can just go wherever you like - don't you _dare_ come back!" Rin stood there. Didn't he understand? He didn't like being Satan's son any more that Suguro did – he didn't _like_ having a mass-murdering demon for a father. He just wanted to be _Rin_ \- but it didn't matter to anyone else. He was Satan's son, and therefore he was evil.

"...And I actually thought you were a pretty cool guy... How wrong I was." Rin looked up from the floor, flames licking at his hair and hands. He knew he was exposing himself to all the others, yet somehow, he didn't care. Let the whole world know.

"Suguro! I didn't frickin' _ask_ to be the son of Satan!" He grabbed his shirt collar, pulling him close, trying to make him _see_. "But you're different, aren't you?"

He was knocked back, Juuzou appearing in front of him, between him and Suguro. "Sorry for interrupting, but - "

Rin went rigid, back arched, teeth clenched. He heard faint chanting, somewhere, but his mind was overwhelmed by the current of pain shooting through his entire body from the base of his tail. He'd forgotten about the cuff. He let out a strangled yell – the pain was almost worse than when Egyn had dumped a bucket of holy water over his head – and fell to one knee, breathing heavily.

"Okumura!" That was funny, Suguro almost sounded concerned...

The chanting started again and he collapsed, his muscles unable to take his weight. It ended again, and he pushed himself up to his hands and knees. Shura was next to him. It was her, she must have done it, she was the one causing him pain. He couldn't think – what was he doing? He was convincing Suguro of something.

"If you let your flames go wild again, you'll be executed," she said. Was she threatening him? Or warning him? He couldn't tell. "Calm down!" Warning him, then.

"...My way..." He grunted.

"What?"

"It's important – don't get in my way." And then the pain came again, worse than the previous two times, and he blacked out.

* * *

"Ugh..." He stretched, then grimaced. His muscles were tight, his whole body sore. He sat up. Yukio and Shura were outside of his – he was in a cell.

"What happened?"

"Well, from my end – the trail to the Left Eye was a dead end. Todou escaped, and from what the Myou Dha members have said, he came here and captured the Right Eye as well."

"If yer talkin' about yerself - you went crazy on Suguro and let out your flames, so I had ta – well, I used that cuff the Grigori put on you." Rin scowled.

"I was under control until you used it, you idiot."

"Watch it – !"

"Calm down, you two!" Yukio heaved a sigh - and then a small white terrier came out of one of the boxes built into the cell doors, transforming into Mephisto as soon as he was properly in the hall.

"Good evening, you three!"

"Sir Pheles!"

"What're ya doin' here, Mephisto?"

"What am I doing here?" He parroted, looking affronted. "That's quite a remark. I'm here cleaning up after you, of course. Das Stärkste Gefängnis!"

"Wah – geh!" Rin coughed as the claw of the prison that had just appeared clamped around his middle.

"Due to the chanting of an imprisonment spell, and a majority vote by the court of inquiry under Grigori, Okumura Rin has been sentenced to be executed."

And then the doors of the metal prison opened and the claw dragged him into the darkness, the doors clanging shut behind him.

* * *

"Where am I?" He yelled frustratedly. He knew it was no use, really – it was some space Samael had conjured up, but yelling was making him feel just a little bit better.

"As if I'd die in a place like _this_ ," he muttered. He kicked at a gear – one of many metal scraps and pieces of junk lying around before sitting abruptly. _Think_.

It was a construct of Samael's. The Ultimate Defense. _Defense?_ Defense was blocking attacks from the outside... if he attacked from the inside, though... All right! Time to let loose!

He roared; bringing the entirety of his flames to the surface and then out, pushing against the constraints of the prison. And surprise, surprise – it broke. He crouched, panting, as bits of metal fell around him, then looked up to see the shocked faces of his fellow exwires.

"...Hello... Um, what are you all doing here?"

"I – I can't have you dying on me, Okumura – now that I know you're not dangerous, I'd like to make up with you." He was... surprised. He hadn't expected something like that coming from Konekomaru, who had shown him nothing but fear since he'd seen his flames.

The others added in their two cents, and Rin felt – he didn't know what it was, but it was warm. And nice. Until, of course, Suguro tried to stab at him with his sheathed sword. Rin dodged and grabbed it, making sure to keep it sheathed.

"Suguro?!"

The taller boy turned his head away and scoffed. "You were right – about my dad, that is. So take it – you're going to need it if you're going to fight."

"Fight?"

"Long story short, Todou succeeded in reviving the Impure King." _Not good. Not good at all._

Suguro let go of the sword and Rin took it, reassured with the solid grip in his hand. He continued. "I'll show you to Kongou Shinzan, where it is, then what you do is up to you. 'Cause I'm going to fight on my own terms."

He was _still_ treating him like crap. Rin didn't like it, not at all, and he was going to prove himself to them. "Suguro... believe in me. I can't change the fact that I'm the son of Satan! But I can show you that I'm on your side, all of you!" He turned to look at his other classmates, all watching him solemnly. "So believe in me."

Suguro turned away angrily, and Rin could practically feel the hostility radiating from him. "I don't care about that. You were the one who first started treating us as strangers – why don't you tell me, how am I supposed to believe in someone like that? Am I the only one who thought we were friends?"

 _Friends_. He hadn't had friends before them. He'd had brothers, sure – but they were family. Friends – he hadn't made any in Gehenna, and he couldn't remember having any before then, either, due to his habit of getting into fights.

"Well, there's only one thing to do now," Rin said.

"And what's that?" Suguro asked snappishly.

"We're going to defeat the Impure King."

* * *

 **A/N: Phew! Sorry for the wait, but I wrote an extra-long chapter for you as a... I don't know what you would consider it. An apology? A bribe? Eh.**

 **Also, I'm pretty sure my muse is ADHD. Seriously. Either that or the plot bunnies are seriously celebrating the arrival of spring.**


	18. Chapter 18: Defeat of the Impure King

**Disclaimer: I don't own Blue Exorcist.**

* * *

Rin walked, sword balanced on his shoulder, quietly as Suguro called Shura for further instructions.

"Did something happen to Pops?" He heard, and turned to Suguro, who was slightly paler than usual, making his bruise stand out in stark relief. "...Yeah, fine, got it."

He snapped the phone shut and turned to face them. "We gotta go find my Pops. He went missing – they think he went to go try to stop Todou before he revived the Impure King."

* * *

"Gyah! What _is_ that?" Shima yelled. "How are we supposed to defeat something that huge?"

"It's the Impure King," Rin said, voice level. There was no mistaking it – the stench of rot hung in a heavy pall over the entire mountain. "As for its size – the bigger they are, the harder they fall."

"It's practically a fortress on its own..." Suguro muttered, and Rin smirked.

"So what? It just needs some good, old-fashioned purification. By fire." He stopped dead and sniffed the air. It was faint, and hard to catch, but it was certainly there – blood. He turned towards the source.

Izumo followed his gaze and gasped. "Wait a sec – isn't that the High Priest?"

They rushed over and Suguro immediately knelt on the ground by his father. "No... no way..."

Rin stayed alert; with the Impure King steadily growing and that odd demonic energy coming from a distance away – not to mention the new, powerful one from close by – at least one person needed to be battle-ready.

He was startled, though, when a small demon flamed into existence just above the priest.

"I am Karura, servant of the Head Priest of Myouou Dharani," it said, introducing himself. "That contract has been annulled, now that the 'secret' has been revealed, but I also had a personal contract with Suguro Tatsuma that I am now fulfilling."

The small demon noticed him then, and bobbed in the air. "Prince," it said, acknowledging his status.

The old man stirred, then tried to sit up, only succeeding when Suguro helped prop him up against a tree.

"You – you're all here," he said groggily. "Do you know – "

"We know the basics of the situation," Suguro interrupted. His father nodded jerkily and continued.

"I'll tell you... how to defeat the Impure King. It will keep growing until... " He coughed, wincing. "Until a sporangium forms inside it. When that matures and ruptures, it will let out toxic spores, a great miasma – you have to prevent that."

He shifted, pain flitting across his face. "The... heart of the Impure King... lays inside of the sporangium. Fukaku, who fought the Impure King 150 years ago, only succeeded in reaching the heart and splitting it in two, before sealing both halves away."

Konekomaru gasped. "The left and right eyes, correct? But then if the sporangium ruptures, we won't be able to get at the heart!"

"...That is correct. That's why I made the contract with Karura, I wanted to use the Gouhaen to defeat it if I ever had to. I used it once already, and I don't have much left. I'll do it again to create a barrier, and then I want you, Okumura-kun, to reduce its heart to ashes."

Rin nodded sharply. It was a good plan. There was only one problem –

"You can't do that, Tatsuma. You've lost too much blood."

"It doesn't matter – I'll do what I have to."

"Pops! I won't let you do that – if there's another way, I'll do it!" Suguro yelled, looking frantic.

"No! You're still a child!"

"I don't care! I won't let you do this alone!"

It hurt. Rin wished, however fleeting, that his father would have cared about him enough to argue for his life like that – instead, he was pushed near death in training. And then he felt disgusted. His father – there were two who could possibly claim that title, and neither of them was related to him be blood. What did it matter what Satan thought of him?

He turned away when Suguro made the contract to accept the Gouhaen and his father showed him the seal, not wanting to intrude on something so personal.

He heard Suguro's father sit back down, breathing heavily, and turned. Suguro himself was stone-faced and determined.

"In order to set up the barrier properly, I need to get as close as I possibly can to the sporangium – "

Whatever he was going to say next was immediately covered by Konekomaru and Shima's protests. They grew louder and more forceful until Rin had had enough.

"Shut up!" He growled. "Suguro's gotta do this to protect the rest of the people here. And if you're so worried about him, I'll protect him. It's my job to defeat that piece of rot, anyways."

* * *

"It's growing into a building." The two of them stopped momentarily at the edge of the unaffected area – the sight was absurd. The round, pulsing boils were slowly stiffening into straight, square corners and corridors, forming a sort of palace.

Rin had never seen a demon like this one before. And he didn't know how they were going to get to the sporangium without it... swallowing them, for lack of a better term. As soon as they touched it, it would come after them – but his flames – great. It was going to be extremely awkward.

"Get on my back," he told Suguro. It was the only option. His flames would prevent the Impure King from actually touching them, and as Suguro didn't have flames of his own – well, he could use Karura's flames, but he needed that for the barrier – he couldn't walk on his own. And Rin was strong enough to carry him.

"What?" Suguro squawked. "There's no way – "

So Rin explained, and Suguro grudgingly agreed. It was uncomfortable for the both of them, but soon enough Suguro spotted the sporangium and Rin put him down on a large rock protruding from the Impure King's 'floor'.

"All right then," Rin said, rolling his shoulders and unsheathing his sword. "We gotta get the barrier up before anything else, so do your thing, Princess Suguro."

Suguro exploded – good. Anger was far more useful than fear. "What?! Who are you calling princess – !"

"I don't want to be the knight of such a rough-looking princess..." Rin smirked at Suguro who was, by then, red with rage. "Just do your thing."

Suguro let out a deep breath, still obviously mad, and started chanting. Rin slid into a ready position, watching carefully the edges of the Impure King around their rock, beating them back before they approached any closer. With one last yell, a column of flame shot up from Suguro and expanded into a bubble around the Impure King, closing off the majority of it and preventing the miasma from leaking out.

"Pretty cool, Suguro!" He yelled. He continued to hack away at the bubbling mass as the shield finished forming. But then there was... it was another source of demonic energy – outside the shield. And it felt like... it felt like _his_.

"Yukio...?" But then the dome closed, and the only thing Rin could sense was the orange flame of Karura.

"Oi! Okumura!" Rin turned his attention back to the fight at hand, cursing his inattention. Thaziel had beaten that into him, hadn't he? _Stay focused._ "It looks like it's gonna rupture!"

"Yeah, yeah – I'm on it!" He yelled back, and stared up at the sporangium. It was at the point where even if he did attack the sporangium, the contact would cause it to burst before his blade reached the 'heart'. He knew he had a large reserve of flames left – he had more flame energy than even Iblis – but with something this huge, and not being in Gehenna, which amplified all things demonic – he didn't know if it was possible for him to burn out the Impure King in one go without burning his body out as well. He cursed.

"Rin!" Suguro called, and he turned in order to destroy a tendril that had appeared right in front of him.

"I'm not gonna make it!" Rin warned. "It's gonna rupture no matter what, I'll have to burn it away later – but even then, I might not be successful. That thing is huge and it just keeps growing."

Suguro growled in frustration. "What are we gonna do, then?"

A low, rolling boom echoed through the air and Suguro and Rin looked up at the sporangium – which, incidentally, was no longer a sporangium. A cloud of super-dense miasma was billowing around where the sporangium had been, and cleared to reveal a really odd-looking figure several stories high.

"The true form of the Impure King..." Suguro breathed. A second later he began coughing, clutching at his chest and hunching over.

"Suguro!"

"Karura...protect me!" Gold flame surrounded the boy, and Rin scowled.

"What did you do!" It was Karura who answered, Suguro only having sufficient strength to gasp.

"I used a piece of the barrier to surround him. But it consumes his strength much faster. He will not be able to keep this up for long."

Rin growled. He rushed forward, bringing his flames to the max, cutting down every tendril that got in his way, but they just kept _coming_. In order to defeat the Impure King, he would have to go all-out – which wasn't an option, not unless he wanted to risk incinerating Suguro as well, with him being so close.

"Pitiful."

Rin whipped around, then stared wide-eyed at the giant bird-like demon hovering in the air.

"I am Ucchusma, the Burning Impurity Kongo and sworn enemy of the Impure King. If you let me work with you, I will help you defeat the Impure King."

Rin narrowed his eyes; the whole thing seemed rather convenient. But it _was_ exactly what he needed, who was he to reject it? Especially when the lives of so many others were on the line.

"Chant with me."

Rin did as it said, chanting. He could feel the power building up in his sword, feel the air heating up until the tendrils immolated upon getting within five feet of him.

"Once more – then fire!"

Rin did as the demon said, chanting, "Ka...shou...zan...mai!" and leapt, thrusting his sword down with all his might. A giant ball of blue flame erupted with the tip of his sword and impacted with the head of the Impure King, managing to force it back and Rin landed in the midst of it, sword sinking into the beast's thick skin.

He yelled, forcing more flames into the giant explosion, and then concentrated. The Impure King was dead, now; but it needed to be fully eradicated before it was truly defeated. Even a tiny speck of rot left alive would result in its eventual revival.

He had to control the rest of the explosion, especially now since the barrier was down. He had to let it sweep the entire mountain, obliterating any trace of rot while simultaneously protecting those he considered his friends and allies.

"Gyaaah!"

It seemed to go on forever; he couldn't tell if it was just a minute or an hour. Finally, it was over, and he knelt on the ground, the sword's sheath clattering down behind him. He turned his head east, panting; the sun was just starting to rise and it revealed the emptiness where just before had been a city of rot.

He watched wearily as Ucchusma detached itself from his sword. It turned back towards him.

"Everything has been purified," it announced grandly. "I'm leaving."

Rin made no sign of acknowledgement.

"Uhm. I wonder which one you are. A human... or a demon. One day, you will have to decide." Ucchusma flew away, then, disappearing into the brightness of the morning sun.

He stood, leaning for a moment on his sheathed sword, and made his way over to the others, who joined him in a round of greetings and apologies and thanks.

Until Yukio arrived, and punched him in the face. " _Idiot!_ Do you know what you've done? Do you understand your position?"

"I do," Rin answered levelly. "I finally understand." He looked up at Yukio, eyes gleaming. "Satan's son. I can't run away from this power, nor can I hide behind it or anyone else. I was scared... to face the truth. That I'm somewhere in between. That I had to choose. But now... I get it. And that was..."

Black was crowding around the edges of his vision. When did that get there? "Not... good..."

* * *

 **A/N: So, what do you think? In apology for the long wait time, I've given you two updates in two days. Cool, huh? (You also have my sudden fascination with the Castle Crashers soundtrack to thank for that, as I often get inspired to write while listening to music. I blame my brothers.)**


	19. Chapter 19: The Kraken

**Disclaimer: I don't own Blue Exorcist.**

 **So. Here we go again. Also, it's really fun to be annoying.**

* * *

Rin opened his eyes slowly, squinting as his eyes adjusted to the light. He blinked a couple times; his eyes were gritty. His mouth tasted bad, too. How long had he been out? Granted, the Impure King was much more serious an opponent that those he had faced before, but still... he licked his teeth, trying to get some more moisture into his mouth and grimaced.

There was a shuffling off to his left and turned his head. _Shiemi?_ As he watched, she opened her eyes and smiled.

"Oh, Rin, you're awake!"

He frowned, confused. "Why are you sleeping here? Were you hurt?"

She laughed, a slight blush on her cheeks showing her embarrassment. "No, I was only here to get IVs, but I fell asleep... I heard you did a good job, though, from the others."

"...Thanks, I guess," Rin said, a bit nonplussed. Really, if he hadn't killed it then, he would have been swallowed by it soon enough, so why she was complimenting him he really didn't know. He sat up and stretched, wincing as the muscles along his ribs and shoulders protested firmly.

He yawned, then snapped his jaw shut and looked around the room curiously. It was rather surprising – most of the other exwires were in the room as well. Shima was behind him, and Takara was next to Shima and across from Shiemi. Izumo was behind a screen on his right.

But first things first. Sleeping was nice and all, but he was thirsty. And he really had to pee. So he got up painfully and shuffled off to the bathroom.

After he had sufficiently relieved himself and washed up a bit, he headed to the kitchen area. Yukio was sitting there – completely asleep. He got a can of juice from the vending machine, popped it open, then walked over so he was standing in front of his brother.

"Hey," he said lowly. No response. He noted his brother's wrinkled uniform – the same one as the day before. Idiot. Didn't he know that sleep deprivation affected performance?

"Dude." A bit louder this time. Still, nothing.

"Yukio!" He yelled, and his brother jerked awake, glasses askew. He looked up reproachfully, rubbing at his neck, and scowled at Rin.

"Why'd you do that?" Rin scoffed.

"I wanna talk to you later, so go get some proper rest. It's okay to take a break every once in a while, you know." He patted Yukio's head and left.

* * *

"Touring? We're still gonna go see Kyoto?" Rin asked curiously. Truth be told, he'd never been to Kyoto before the mission on which he was captured, and he was interested in what kind of things the city had in store.

"Yeah," Konekomaru offered. "Here's a guidebook – what do you wanna see?"

"I want to see..." He opened to a random page. "...The Kyoto Tower?"

Konekomaru blinked, a little confused. "Okay then. Let's go see the Tower."

* * *

"Are you guys spelling the word 'Satan'?"

* * *

The farewells were chaotic, but Rin didn't mind; he was glad to see that Suguro and his dad made up. Before they left, the man came up to him and spoke.

"You're a good kid, you know, just like your father." Rin frowned. "Fujimoto, whatever his faults, is a great man."

And with that statement, he left, and Rin was speechless but strangely gratified. Eventually, all the exwires made it into the van, and it wasn't too long before they arrived at the train station and Shura made her surprise announcement.

"I bet all o' ya thought we were goin' to get on the train and go back to True Cross, didn't ya? Well guess what - yer wrong. I'm gonna have all o' ya buy a swimsuit!"

As it turned out, they were going to the beach. Rin was _not_ happy. He _hated_ swimming. Water was fine – necessary, even – as long as it wasn't deeper than his knees. Anything more than that – well, there was a reason he feared Egyn the most out of all his demon brothers.

"The beach!" Shima cried. "I've been waiting – so long – "

"Shut up, pervert," Izumo said, joining their little group. "Don't come within two kilometers of me, got that?"

Despite her rather harsh verbal beatdown, Shima still looked blissful. Rin snorted. All the others were wearing their swimsuits – Suguro and Konekomaru and Shima were, as well. Shiemi hadn't yet shown up, and Yukio wasn't there yet either. Rin himself was wearing the trunks that Shura had made him buy, but as he had no intention of getting into the water, he was also wearing a t-shirt.

Right as he turned around, Yukio showed up in cargo shorts, a shirt, goggles, and various other pieces of diving gear. Along with Shura, who, predictably, was wearing a somewhat... lacking... swimsuit.

That did _not_ bode well for his plans on staying out of the water.

Shura put her foot up on a box and held up an announcer's cone to her mouth. "Today's target to be exorcised is a kraken!"

Rin clenched his teeth.

"Satou-kun from the information division will tell you the rest of what you need to know, so listen up!"

A rather timid-looking man took the microphone from Shura. "Earlier this morning," he said, "there was an accident and the regional coast guard caught something odd on their sonar. They asked us to analyze it – as it turned out, what they detected was a kraken. We've been scattering blood around this area, so it's heading here to Atami beach. We - "

Shura suddenly swiped the microphone back. "Great, thanks," she said. "When it gets here, those of you above middle second class will deal with it. All those below will deal with the squids coming from the kraken's suckers. But 'till then – feel free ta stay in yer holiday mood! Dismissed!"

Rin surveyed the area for a spot of sand on the beach to claim. There were a few random piles of gear, but most of the beach was open so he just wandered a few feet away and spread out his towel and sat down. It was a nice day; rather on the warm side for Assiah but quite comfortable to him, especially with the nice breeze coming in from the ocean. He set his swords down and laid on his back and closed his eyes. The kraken wouldn't be there for another few hours, right? Enough time for a nap.

* * *

He was moving. What was he moving for? Maybe he'd fallen asleep while training again.

"Thaziel...?" He mumbled hazily, not wanting to open his eyes just yet.

"Nope," he heard, and his eyes shot open. Suguro was behind his head, holding the front of his towel up, and Shima was at his feet – and they were both up to their knees in the water. He yelped and tried to scramble back to the shore, but Suguro was in the way and as soon as Rin started moving he waded deeper.

"Wait – NO!" Rin yelled, knowing what was coming, but even his demonic strength could do nothing against gravity, and he fell into the water, completely frozen.

It was only a couple feet deep but he'd fallen horizontally, so his body was completely submerged. As soon as his body touched the ocean floor, he scrambled upright and out of the water. He stood, snarling and shivering, a few feet back from the water, his clothes soaked and his hair dripping into his eyes.

"You – stupid humans – how did you – you better not come back to shore, or you're dead!" Rin threatened. His encounter with Egyn had, perhaps, left more than a slight apprehension of deep water – it was, if he was being completely honest with himself, closer to an outright phobia. He could feel his tail lashing behind him and judging by the rather frightened looks on their faces, he knew he looked completely demonic, but couldn't bring himself to care. If it got them never to try and do that again, it was worth it.

He whipped around as he heard sand scuffing behind him, wary that someone else would try to push him in again. He relaxed slightly when he saw Yukio. His brother wouldn't try to push him in, of that he was certain.

"What's going on here?" Yukio asked. Rin could practically taste the exasperation in his dry tone.

"They just tried to _kill_ me!" So it might have been an exaggeration.

Yukio frowned. "How would that have happened? They're only exwires." Rin huffed.

"We just wanted Rin to join us," Shiemi began shyly. Suguro took over the explanation.

"He was sleepin' over there, you know, so we just thought it would be funny if we woke him up by sitting him in the ocean. Not anything harmful, right? So me and Shima lifted up the towel he was layin' on and carried him over here – but then he woke up and went berserk and started cursin' us from the shore."

Yukio groaned and knuckled his forehead. "Rin. Explain your side, please – your reaction seems a bit too extreme."

Rin scowled. He couldn't tell them – who knows what they'd do with the information? They could – they could – actually, there really wasn't much they could do with it. They wouldn't be able to tell any other demons, and they seemed naïve enough that they would keep it to themselves if he asked them to.

"We – well, me and Iblis were playing tag around the palace – I was still just a kid – and then I ran into Egyn, and, well, he wasn't too happy about that..."

Konekomaru was the first to get it and gasped. "You mean he attacked you? But he's the King of Water! And you're a fire-element demon! And – and he's your brother!"

Rin shrugged, trying to ignore the horrified looks on everyone else's faces. "He's a demon." He tugged at his shirt, not appreciating that it was soaked with cold water and sticking to him. He pulled it off, and this time it was Shiemi who gasped. What was with all of their surprised reactions, anyways?

"You – your chest – "

"What's wrong with it?" He asked. He looked down. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary – there was a piece of seaweed that he pulled off in distaste. Her concerned look was still present – it wasn't that, then.

"So many scars..." Was that it? Well, there were quite a few small ones from his training with Thaziel. Not to mention the one that nearly bisected his left pectoral – that one had been touch-and-go until he lit up. And the one on the right side of his abdomen that was at least five inches long vertically – spears should _not_ be allowed in a sword-fighting tournament. He knew there were more on his back, too, and if they all reacted to oddly to the ones on his chest, well.

"It doesn't matter." Suguro and Shima still had his towel, and since he'd fallen out before they could lower him in the water, and it was still mostly dry. "I want my towel back."

"Sure," Shima answered absently, and Suguro threw him the towel. He rubbed at his head and turned away, trying to get the stickiness out of his hair. Not that it worked; even if his hair dried it would still have salt in it until he could bathe.

 _BWAAAP! BWAAP! BWAAP!_

"What is that?" Kamiki yelled.

"Everyone outta the water!" Shura called. "The kraken's come within 100 km. And you _don't_ want to be in the water when it gets close enough."

The exwires all abruptly exited the water; a good thing because it wasn't too much later that the sky started to darken. And then the kraken showed up. It was huge. Within just a couple of minutes the helicopter was taken out by one massive tentacle. Rin couldn't help but admire the lethality of it; the Impure King had been just a bit more massive but nowhere near as intelligent.

"It won't come near the beach," Shura explained. "A demon called Wadatsumi was worshipped 'ere – there should be a shrine on that small island over there. Ya see it?"

They all nodded their assent, and Shura smiled grimly. "We've gotta get to the shrine and see if we can wake 'im up. Y'all are gonna be stayin' on this beach, leave it to the more senior exorcists."

"Fine with me," Rin said. As long as he stayed out of the water, he'd be golden. Unless... if Yukio was going. There was no way he was going to let his brother get himself get eaten by a whale demon. "Eh – is Yukio going?"

Shura looked surprised. "Maybe. It depends. We've got a couple upper classes here so 'e'll probably still be on the beach watchin' you guys."

"Oh. Good." And he wandered away, back to where he'd been napping before.

The kraken had calmed a bit, now that the helicopters weren't circling around directly next to it, so they managed to get one to the island with a giant crate. Rin wondered what was in the crate for a moment before he realized what it was and felt stupid. It had to be some sort of offering; the exorcists would want the demon god to be in the best possible shape to fight the kraken. Now if only he could get some food...

* * *

There were gasps, and Rin looked back up from his convenience-store pork bowl at the island. Tentacles were poking up out of the water and waving around. It seemed as though the fight was starting. He rushed through the rest of his food and stood, hefting his sword up on his shoulder.

"What's goin' on?" He asked, walking up to Shura. She looked tense, her shoulders stiff.

"Kraken's getting' more active, Wadatsumi should show up soon..."

And with that, the top of the island exploded. Rin watched, impressed, as rocks flew and a giant sperm whale burst out of the top of the island. The whale roared, and landed directly on top of the kraken, making a huge splash that even reached the shore. The two beasts tussled, and it was hard to make out what exactly was happening until the scene stilled for a moment – and then the whale came crashing down in the shallows, half-dead.

"It's vulnerable, get it!" One of the exorcists yelled, but Rin eyed it critically. And indeed, the whale, breathing labored, gasped out something about injured squid being more dangerous.

"Hey, WAIT!" Rin yelled, but before anyone could do anything – helpful or harmful – the squid released a mist that turned into lots of squids.

"It's Mimicry Spit – krakens do it when they're on the verge of death!" Shura yelled. "If you hit the glabella, the dummy squid will all disappear!"

She turned to them. "Lower first class and below – you take care of the skid."

"Got it!" Rin ran to find Yukio, who was assembling a rifle. "Hey – you take the big guy, I've got the little ones."

Yukio stared at him warily, but accepted the suggestion. "Sounds good."

They made a good team. Rin's sword cut down all the small squid that were flying around, and Yukio's expert shots ruled out some of the bigger ones that were blocking it out. And then one hit.

"That's it, that's the real one! Concentrate fire!"

A barrage of bullets, missiles, and other assorted offensive weapons flew towards the kraken. The rest of the illusions disappeared, but the strike didn't seem to affect the kraken too much – it was just too big. Rin leapt, hurling a massive gout of flame from his blade, and the kraken finally fell.

Rin landed gently on the coral shelf, re-sheathing his sword.

"We make a pretty good team, don't we, Yukio?"

"...Guess so."

Rin frowned. Was he purposely being obtuse? "It was fun. We should do this more often."

Yukio turned to him, a sly smile on his face. "After you become an exorcist."

"Gah! You know that's not my fault! I would be an upper-ranked exorcist if it was fair! They're just holding me back 'cause – hey, wait..."

Rin trailed off as Yukio burst into laughter.

"Oh, come on..."

* * *

 **A/N: Finally. I had this half-written for several weeks, and finally got crackin' on it a couple days ago (get it, crackin' and kraken, they sound the same). Yeah, that was bad, I'm sorry.**


	20. Chapter 20: The Seven Mysteries

**Disclaimer: I don't own Blue Exorcist.**

* * *

Rin yawned, propping his face in his hand. The class was boring; he wouldn't need to know any of the stuff he was learning later in life. He blinked as he saw a shadow-looking demon pass through the wall. That was odd, the barriers around the school were supposed to keep those out. Maybe it was just too low-level to be detected. Whatever the case, it was far more interesting that the instructor.

He followed it with his eyes and a sudden motion from another one of the students caught his attention. The boy was cringing away from the demon as it passed. Rin didn't recognize him from the cram school, though, so his mashou must have been more recent. And where would he have gotten it? The only demons aggressive enough to give mashou were high enough level to be blocked by the barrier.

Should he talk to the kid? If he went around talking about demons and that, he could prove detrimental to any missions they would have to take... and he'd be able to properly see anything exorcist-related, which could also be detrimental. So yes, he would talk to him after class.

Lucky there was only a short time before the end – he'd dozed through most of it – so when the bell rang he stuffed the blank notebook back into his bookbag and walked up to the kid.

"Hey – just don't look 'em in the eyes," he said, sticking his hand on the guy's shoulder. "Ignore them, and they'll ignore you." He turned to leave, but the kid called after him.

"You can see them too?" He sounded desperate. Rin sighed. The kid would probably follow him until he talked to him for real.

"Yes, I can see them, I help get rid of them if they're too much of a problem." He thought a moment. "When did you start seeing them? Did anything weird happen?"

The boy stopped short. "Well, yeah, now that I think about it – I was walking through the portrait hall – it's one of the seven mysteries of the school, you know – and I don't remember the rest of what happened that night but when I woke up the next day I could see these – these _things_ , and I just – I thought I was losing my mind until you said you could see them too. And if there's a way I can _stop_ seeing them..."

Rin nodded. The seven mysteries, huh? He'd have to find out what those were. And maybe talk to Mephisto about this kid.

"What's your name?"

"Oh, I'm Godain."

"All right then. I'll talk to somebody about it, maybe get you something that will stop your seeing demons. Later."

And this time when he walked off, the kid didn't follow. One more class, and he was off to cram school.

* * *

"Man, there's been an upswing in demonic activity lately, don't you think, Konekomaru?" Rin heard as he walked into the school, heading towards his shoe locker. The small boy looked thoughtful.

"There has, hasn't there? I've noticed that the exorcists have been a lot busier recently..."

Rin yawned and opened his locker to get his slippers – but there was a letter in his locker.

"Hey, what's that?" Shima asked, looking over his shoulder. "Rin's got a love letter!"

"A love letter? What do you mean?" Shima looked horrified.

"What's a love letter? Where have you been living, under a rock?"

Rin raised an eyebrow, and Shima looked embarrassed.

"Right... but anyways, a love letter is when a girl writes you a note to confess! You have to open it, see who it's from! Here, I'll get it - " and Shima reached into his locker and took the envelope. Rin didn't really care; if whoever it was had to send him a note to confess he either didn't know them well enough or didn't care about them enough to talk to them face-to-face. So he watched as Shima turned the envelope over and promptly turned green.

"Who's it from?" Rin asked, now curious. By this time Suguro and Miwa had seen it too, and the both of them looked faintly disgusted. Shima held out the envelope to him.

"From Mephisto." Oh. Rin opened the letter and paraphrased it aloud. "To Rin – your execution has been suspended, please join me for dinner tonight to celebrate." His lip curled, why did Samael have to put such disgusting ornamentation on the envelope and his writing? It was just distasteful.

Whatever. He'd get through classes, and then go to Cram School, then go to Samael to see what he wanted to talk to him about. Except then Cram School was canceled. So he got some homework done, and then went to see Samael.

"Ah, welcome, I've been waiting for you!" Samael said, looking entirely too comfortable in a light kimono, popsicle in hand. Not for the first time, Rin wondered about his brother's sanity. "Please, sit."

And thankfully, the popsicle disappeared and Samael's attire changed from a kimono to a more proper dinner suit. Rin sniffed; whatever Samael's servant was cooking smelled amazing. He looked down at the table and saw an open bowl of... it was spicy miso ramen; the instant kind. He raised an eyebrow. That was remarkably cheap for a dinner invitation.

"Let's spiff you up as well, shall we?" Samael snapped his fingers, and all of a sudden Rin was wearing a suit; crisp white shirt, neatly knotted tie, combed hair and all. He had to admit, he'd kind of missed the formalwear. Especially since the suit he was in was obviously such high quality; the nicer fabrics and cuts could be _very_ comfortable.

The instant ramen was still confusing, though.

"What did you want to see me about, Samael?" Rin asked. While it was true that he felt more comfortable around Samael than most of his other brothers, he was still a full demon, and there was an ulterior motive in the meeting. And Rin would be on edge until he found out what it was.

Samael gave him a disarming grin. "Oh, just two little things. First of all, there's the small matter of what Lucifer's been up to."

Rin immediately tensed. "He's finally made a move?"

"Yes, he has," Samael answered gravely. "We've found an artificial Gehenna Gate in northern Russia. We suspect the Gate has been active for the past couple of months at least, which coincides with the increase in demonic activity. I've contained it for now, but something is going to happen soon now that Lucifer has finally shown his tail."

There was a ding from somewhere in the room, and Rin looked at Samael in confusion. "It's time for noodles!"

Rin chuckled. Sometimes his Samael's eccentricities were more amusing than annoying. And despite the cheapness, the ramen was surprisingly delicious. It was really spicy, enough to even make Rin's mouth burn. And he'd eaten a lot of spicy food – spices were about the only thing that undercut the flavor of the food they served in Gehenna.

"Speaking of showing tails," Samael said between slurps, "We need to have a chat about you flaunting your heart as you do."

Rin scowled, setting his chopsticks down. "Believe me, Samael, I hate having to do it as much as you do. But, unfortunately, I haven't found another compatible sword, and this is one that I always have with me – I can't exactly just leave it somewhere. I don't want to use it so often, but I don't have another choice."

Rin frowned as another thought occurred to him. "I don't even have my knives with me. Those got taken when I was unconscious and I don't know where they went."

Samael coughed awkwardly. "Well, yes, knives, I see. I may have a solution to both your problems, actually."

Rin raised an eyebrow and looked at Samael suspiciously. "You do? Because unless you have a pair of knives and a sword that just appeared out of nowhere..."

"Well, yes. Maybe. Every branch of the Exorcist Order keeps an armory, which includes any weaponry that is found on captured demons. Your weapons are probably there – the Shima brothers must have dropped them off before they brought you to me; I'm too busy to personally see to every captured weapon."

Rin was gaping. "By the _flames_ , Samael, why didn't you mention this _earlier_? It would have saved me so much trouble! Gah!"

Samael shrugged. "Once you finish your noodles, we'll head down there, how does that sound?"

Rin sighed. Anything to get his weapons back; Thaziel and Iblis had gifted him with those on his fifteenth birthday, Thaziel giving him the knives and Iblis the sword. He knew how much effort had been spent making them; it wasn't just every metal that could channel his flames. They must have cost a fortune.

So he slurped his noodles down with as much decorum as he could muster (Samael had invited him, and it would be insulting to eat with anything less than his best manners). Still, he ate quickly, and he was done with his ramen just before Samael.

They headed to the door, which Samael opened, and because of his power opened it into the hallway to the armory. That was a very useful trick. Not for the last time, Rin despaired of inheriting his flames rather than a cooler power like Samael's. Not that his flames weren't cool, but they certainly didn't do anything like Samael could.

While strolling down the hallway, Samael brought up his solution to the second problem Rin had voiced, the problem with having to carry Kurikara around with him everywhere he went.

"Do you remember how Kirigakure-san stores her sword?" He asked. Rin got excited; he could see where this was going and could see the benefits presented by applying the same system to his situation.

"You can create a seal for me? In which I can store Kurikara?"

"Yes, I can, and I will." Samael grimaced. "It is partially my fault, for not notifying you about the weapons storage earlier. Consider it restitution, if you will."

"In that case, I gladly accept. When will – aargh!" Rin yelled and clutched at his chest. A burning pain had suddenly appeared there, and he assumed that Samael had created the seal for his sword. "A little warning might be nice," he grunted.

"Oh, Rin, don't you know that a little pain builds character? And besides, it should already be gone now." And sure enough, the pain had faded to a small ache. "Besides, we're here."

Samael gestured to a door, this time actually using a key to unlock it, and opened it. The lights came on; it seemed they were automatic. Cool. Upon actually entering the room, Rin surveyed his surroundings. Rows upon rows of weapons – swords, staffs, even a good number of guns – were displayed, and the room went on for quite a ways. It would take a good amount of time to find them, unless Samael knew the organizational pattern.

Which, of course, he didn't, citing his position as Director to imply that he was too busy. Whatever. It would take how long it was going to take, and it was totally worth it. First he went for his sword; he placed Kurikara into the seal (it felt good to have his heart back safe), but that left him practically defenseless against other weapons and a sword was better, in this case, than his knives would be. He already had a sword sleeve on him, and it would be suspicious if he suddenly stopped carrying it around. So the sword was his first priority.

But first, he had to find it.

As he walked along, he noticed tags under each weapon. He looked closer at one placed under a rifle. It read, _M-200 Intervention. Obtained 6.3.11._ The weapon next to the rifle was some sort of staff – and the date on that was a few weeks later. If he followed the dates, then, he would be able to find his own weapons! He hurried down the row; stopping every few meters to check the dates. Closer, closer – yes! It was the same year! It was only a few more steps and he was standing in front of his original sword, and both his knives were right next to it – in their sheaths, too!

He pulled his sword off the wall and slid it into the now-empty sleeve. It was a relief to have the familiar weight back on his shoulder. The knives were next, one strapped onto his forearm and the other onto his thigh. He sighed, feeling much more secure than he had before. His heart was safe, he had his sword and knives back – what else could he want?

"Oh, by the way, here's a key to your room. I expect it back in a couple days when you see me. Ja ne!" Samael poofed out of the room, leaving a small cloud of perfume in his wake. Rin coughed; the perfume was _really_ strong. He shrugged and went back to the door, inserting the key and leaving back to his room.

* * *

"So, you've all heard of the Seven Mysteries of the school, right?" Yukio asked. The class was outside on one of the paths, listening to the instructions of their new assignment. "Well, those are actually all cases of low-level demons. We're going to be taking care of them throughout the rest of the week."

Just as Rin suspected. After talking to Godain, he wondered why Samael hadn't done anything. But now his question was answered. There were two reasons that Samael would have them do it: first, it was good experience; and second, he was probably just being lazy. Rin didn't mind, though; after getting his weapons back he was in a very good mood.

"The first one we're doing tonight," Yukio continued. "Several people have reported seeing a white kimono – the bride of a ghost on her wedding night. She attacks boys but stays away from girls."

"Look!" Izumo interrupted. She was pointing to one of the higher paths, on which a figure in a white kimono could be seen. Huh.

"All right then, start your mission!" Yukio exclaimed. There were a few exclamations of dismay, but Rin paid them no mind. He was watching the ghost, assessing the situation.

As a ghost, physical attacks wouldn't work on it, which pretty much ruled him out. Sure, his flames could harm a ghost, but in order for that to happen the ghost would have to stay semi-corporeal, which he couldn't picture it doing. And there was something off about it, too, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Okumura, do you mind distracting him?" Suguro asked, and Rin nodded. Even if he couldn't hurt the ghost, the ghost wouldn't be able to hurt him. He'd be fine as bait.

He jumped up to the higher level, walking slowly toward the ghost, who was standing on the edge. "Excuse me, ma'am," he said, and the ghost turned. Rin paused. He had _not_ been expecting that. But he just had to stall until Suguro, Miwa, and Shima finished their chants. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Ooh, you're cute," he? she? said. "Can I kiss you?"

Now. There were several things Rin had resolved never to do in his short life. First: never annoy Egin. Second: do not agree to any of Astaroth or Beelzebub's invitations to visit. Third: do not lie to Thaziel. Fourth: do not bring okonomiyaki to Gehenna and eat it several days later. Fifth: do not get involved with any female demon. Ever. (The last one he had decided after watching Iblis).

There were a couple more, but the list had just grown by one: Do not ever kiss a transvestite ghost. Not even when acting as bait. Fortunately, however, watching Iblis's misfortunes with female demons had shown him that flirting was a good way to stall. And it wasn't like the ghost would do anything; it would be exorcised before Rin would stop talking him/her - he'd just go with 'him' – down.

"I'm sorry," Rin said in an honest a tone that he could manage. "I can't kiss someone that I just met."

The ghost looked crestfallen, but Rin had a plan. "Maybe if I got to know you a little more, well – I guess we wouldn't be strangers then, would we?"

Success. The ghost looked happier, and was starting to act all bashful. Quite honestly, it was more than a bit unsettling. "Oh, well, what do you want to know?"

What were common things that humans knew about each other? Favorite things, right? And what did humans like? He didn't think they'd have favorite ways to see another human killed...

"Uhh... do you have a favorite food?" That was a safe question right? Except then the ghost sniffed and looked like he was about to cry.

"So insensitive! I can't eat food anymore, thanks for the reminder!"

Crap. "I'm sorry – you just looked so beautiful I couldn't believe you weren't still alive! How about a favorite color?"

Apology and redirection. That should work. Good, the ghost looked happy again.

"My favorite color? It's a nice light blue, like the sky. Oh, or your eyes! You have such pretty eyes, your eyelashes are so long! I'm jealous~"

It was starting to get weird. He heard Yukio snicker behind him but kept a smile pasted on his face, wishing that Suguro and Miwa and Shima would hurry up.

"How about... what is your favorite... activity?" Rin asked. He couldn't think of anything else, really; and activity was a general enough question that it could apply to being dead.

"Well, ever since I died I've really enjoyed being able to be myself! My favorite thing was to look for boys! Until you came along, of course..."

Okay. That was enough. And Shima was snickering too, now, so he had to be done with his chant.

"Are you guys done yet?" Rin yelled at them. Miwa chanted a few more words, then nodded. Shima was done, of course, but surprisingly so was Suguro. Rin looked back at the ghost – he looked angry. Apparently he'd caught on to the whole 'exorcising' bit. ''

"We've finished the chants but the ghost isn't disappearing!" Suguro yelled.

"I can see that, thanks!" Rin yelled back. What a pain. So how were they - "Hey, Izumo! How did you get rid of that ghost in the park?"

Izumo looked startled. "I just chased him around and he said 'Thanks for playing with me', then he disappeared."

Rin glanced back at the ghost. What this ghost wanted more than anything else was to – oh. Absolutely not. No way. How about, instead -

"Excuse me, uh – there's a boy over there who hasn't had his first kiss yet, the one with the pink hair. I'm sure he'd love a kiss from you." Well, Rin had no idea whether Shima had his first kiss or not, but he really didn't care. It served him right for laughing at him.

The ghost looked thoughtful. "Well, he is pretty cute – not as cute as you, of course, but still. And he looks like he would be nicer than you would – I'll do it!"

Rin watched in horrified fascination as the ghost proceeded to kiss Shima, who fell down in a stupor afterwards. Maybe that was a bit overkill; that looked awful.

But the ghost _still_ hadn't disappeared! What was with this guy? The whole plan was falling apart!

"Summon, fashion doll: Mika's Friends Series, Jean Groom version!"

Rin looked on in amazement as Takara summoned a puppet familiar from the mouth of his rabbit puppet. The ghost stopped short, said something that he couldn't make out, and then disappeared.

Well then. One mystery down, six more to go.

* * *

"Oh, you're here this morning. Want some food?" Rin asked, seeing his brother sit at one of the tables in their cafeteria.

"Yeah, thanks," Yukio said, stifling a yawn.

"You know, it would be easier for me if you answered your messages, because then I could make breakfast for both of us at the same time."

"Okay, _Mom_ , I'll remember that."

"Uh huh."

"Hey, I've been really busy, I'll have you know. Between minding the consultation counter and missions, I've had practically no free time."

Rin raised an eyebrow. That sounded... fun. But there was something about Yukio's explanation that was bugging him. He sounded really tense, worried about something. And he didn't think it was work-related, as Yuki was always calm in a professional setting. No, it had to be something personal.

"There's something you're not telling me." It was a statement. That way, Yukio would know that he knew something, and would be far more likely to actually tell him. Eventually.

The day passed quickly, and it was time for the exorcism. Yukio sent the girls off to the bathroom, and then turned to them.

"In the case that Kamikia and Moriyama aren't successful, we need to be prepared as backup. And this means dressing up as girls."

No way. Not after the fiasco with the ghost the night before. Dressing up as a girl was over the limit.

"I'm out." Rin announced. "There is no way you are getting me to do that."

Yukio sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He knew that even though he technically outranked Rin, he wouldn't be able to make him cooperate, and Rin knew that he knew it. The other exwires, however, weren't so lucky.

Soon enough there were five rather masculine-looking girls standing in front of Rin. He snapped a quick shot discreetly while they were inspecting each other's makeup. _Makeup!_

They made their way to the bathroom, where they were met by a startled Kamiki and Shiemi. After a long, awkward moment, the two girls were in hysterics and the rest of the boys were looking rather disgruntled. Rin himself felt rather smug; he had refused to dress up and they hadn't needed him to do anything anyways. There was nothing like _not_ making a fool of yourself.

* * *

"Tonight's mission is to exorcist the second of the mysteries – the moving statue of Johann Faust that moves in the middle of the night. And I'd like you to do it quickly – if you get it done in a timely manner, we can move on the fifth of the mysteries, 'The Unmanned Tram'."

Yukio looked odd, Rin thought, as if he were relieved and concerned at the same time. Something was bothering his brother, and he didn't like it.

"Rin, watch it!"

There was a faint swoosh from overhead, and Rin tucked and rolled automatically. And immediately yelled a _Thanks!_ , as whoever had yelled had done so just in time for him to dodge the statue. A second later and he would have had at least a couple of ribs which were, while not crippling, _extremely_ painful.

Rin unsheathed his sword – the statue was a mite big for his knives – and cleaved the statue in two. A small amount of flames channeled along the edge of his sword – even with the Koumaken sheathed, he still had some flames available to him – took care of the possession. He checked his blade immediately after for any signs of chipping, but his flames had strengthened it so it was fine.

"Nice job, Rin," Shima said. Rin nodded and sheathed his sword.

"Yes, well done," Yukio added. "Let's go to the tram station, shall we?"

The station was a short distance away, thankfully, so it was only about a twenty-minute walk.

The tram, however, wasn't due for another thirteen minutes, according to Yukio.

Rin sat down. There was no use in getting impatient, so he'd just wait.

"Here it comes," Yukio warned a few minutes later. Rin stood and stretched, looking around – the others were preparing too.

The tram turned the corner, careening wildly but it slowed slightly as it approached the station – just enough for Suguro to catch hold of it and climb on. What an idiot; what was he hoping to accomplish with that?

Rin sighed before gathering his energy and sprinting after the tram. He caught up quickly, then swung his sword to derail it. Suguro yelled – but it was his fault for getting on it in the first place. Besides, he was smart enough not to get himself seriously injured. With the tram derailed, though, it was much easier to properly exorcise – a wash of flames took care of the spirit; the front of the tram had stopped its chewing-like motion.

But there was still the matter of the tram car being, quite frankly, destroyed. One side had a huge gash just above the wheels, and the windows had all shattered from the heat of his flames – which had also melted parts of the frame into twisted globs of metal and practically incinerated the seats.

Samael could take care of it. It was his fault for not preventing it in the first place.

"Good work, everybody," Yukio announced. It seemed he was of a similar mind regarding Samael's culpability. "Tomorrow we'll be handling the Hall of Portraits, so get some rest."

Excellent.

* * *

"Yukio's late," Rin said flatly. This was unusual; Yukio took his work seriously. If something was causing him to be late, that probably wasn't a good thing.

"A puppy!" Kamiki exclaimed in a near-squeal. Rin was surprised; he hadn't known she could make a noise like that. And the he saw the 'puppy' she mentioned.

"Ah – Kamiki – that's not - " but by then she had already picked Samael up. And then he poofed into his usual self.

"GYAAAH!"

Well, he'd tried.

"Er – ser Pheles," Kamiki said awkwardly, "Why are you here...?"

Posing theatrically, Samael gave his answer with a wink. "Okumura-sensei received an urgent summons from the Vatican, so I'll be standing in for the last of the seven mysteries!"

Ugh. And what happened to the other two mysteries?"

"Wait, um, there's still supposed to be three mysteries left..." Miwa pointed out. Samael looked thoughtful.

"Oh, well – the one about the mansion – that's actually the exorcist supply shop." There was a smattering of surprised expressions.

"And the Wunderkammar – that's actually a valued part of my prank – " at this point he pretended to cough - "Collection. So, really, this is the only one left to be investigated. It's titled 'The Family Portrait, and it also used to be part of my prank - " the stupid fake coughing again - "Collection, but after it started traumatizing students, well, now we're forced to exorcise it."

What was with the we? There was no way Samael was going to help them. And true to form, he went up to the stairs railing and started to play a video game. Rin scowled.

"It's this one, right?" Kamiki asked. Rin squinted at it – it certainly looked evil. And if it wasn't, oh well, Samael would have to get new paintings. So he went and cut it.

Bad idea.

A huge formless black mass burst out of the split frame as soon as it touched the ground, turning everything in the room to shadow. Everyone else had disappeared. If Rin had been by himself, he would have lit up and pushed his flames out to incinerate the whole hallway of portraits, but that wouldn't do him any good now; he could still smell the others and that meant they were still close by. Accidentally killing them wouldn't help his situation in the slightest.

He turned around and suddenly he could see the others again; but they weren't the others. For one, they were looking at him as if they were terrified of him; and secondly, Godain was with them – and Rin didn't smell him. What _was_ this demon?

He blinked, and suddenly Miwa was right in front of him, some sort of weapon stabbed through a miniature of the mass that had burst out of the portrait. His glasses were down around his chin and Rin knew it was actually him.

"Get inside the barrier!" He said urgently, pulling him along. "And don't look at them!"

Once inside the circle, Miwa addressed the group of them. "I don't know what you all saw, but you have to stay calm. The demon possessing the painting was a shapeshifter – I took my glasses off when Okumura drew his sword, just in case – that's how I was able to avoid it."

"Good thinking, Konekomaru," Bon said. "I know all the five lethal verses for shapeshifters, so if I chant them all I might - "

"Bon!" Miwa exclaimed in an uncharacteristic show of... was that annoyance?

"What?" Bon asked, taken aback.

"The barrier won't hold much longer, so listen what I have to say! Bon – you are too confident in your Aria skills, so you don't try anything else – that's a major weakness of yours. And Shima – why are you trying to become an Aria? You'd be a much better Knight! Kamiki! You need to not distance yourself from us so much – we need to work together! Moriyama, you need more confidence!"

"What about me?" Rin asked.

"We rely on you too much," Miwa told him earnestly. "So you have to become our trump card, so we can become stronger as well. Having you here will make us all more confident, so just stay back."

Rin nodded. It was nice to see that they were starting to stand up on their own.

"Okay then," Miwa said. "Shiemi – please make us a plant from the barberry family, and Bon, you do a chant – this should protect us from the shapeshifter's effects. And please, if you can, Shiemi, form a protective barrier around Bon. We'll need his skills."

Rin laughed. "I guess you're the princess again, Suguro!"

Suguro glared at him, but was too busy chanting to protest.

"Kamiki-san, please perform the soul purification prayer!" Miwa ordered, and Kamiki started to chant as well. Her two foxes went after the shapeshifter, but their attack had no visible effect.

"What? Why didn't it work?"

That wasn't good. An attack that size should have defeated it, even if it did have a regnerative ability. Unless it was only a _part_ of it...!

"Miwa! It's grouped!" Rin yelled.

"I know!" Miwa yelled back. "Kamiki, Okumura, Shima, I need you three to attack the following targets all at the same time. Kamiki – the frame second from the top and the seventh from the top above that chair – please take those down! Shima – take the long, thin one above the left exit! And Okumura, you go after the main body. Ready, GO!"

The three of them attacked simultaneously, and the demon burst, splattering them all with a sticky black liquid. It smelled.

"Good job!" Samael said, swinging his parasol around and resting it on his shoulder. "I'd like that key back, Rin."

Oh yeah. Rin dug around in his pockets, eventually fishing it out of his pants pocket. He tossed it at Samael, who caught it in his hat, which he then stuck back on his head.

"Ta ta for now!"

Rin stuck his hands in his pockets. "See you all later, I'm going to bed."

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry, it's later than I was planning. But it is a bit longer, so that's good, right?**

 **Also: The kitten is growing some claws! Yay for character development!**


	21. Chapter 21: Festival and a Revelation

**Disclaimer: I don't own Blue Exorcist.**

* * *

"Hey, what're you doing?" Rin asked. Miwa had been practically glued to his computer ever since the incident in the Hall of Portraits.

Miwa turned around, looking up at Rin. "I'm compiling battle data," he said. "If I get all of the data on demons we collected, I'll be able to strategize better, as I'm not very good as an Aria yet."

He looked down. "Shima isn't either – he's much better suited to being a Knight. It makes me mad sometimes... he has so much talent, but he completely wastes it!"

"Hey, guys!" Shima said, poking his head around the corner. What was that Assiahn phrase? Oh yeah – speak of the devil, and he shall appear. "It's almost the time for the school festival!"

"School... festival?"

"What, you don't know about the school festival? They do it every year – it's a tradition!" Shima exclaimed in shock. Rin thought back to when he was just a kid. He did have a vague collection of hazy memories involving lights, and laughter, and food.

"It's like a big party, right?" Rin said uncertainly.

"Pretty much," Miwa answered. "The students from each class have different tasks that they do, like setting up food stalls or games or preparing the fireworks shows."

Rin thought about it a moment. "Cool," he decided. It couldn't hurt to participate; it even sounded fun.

* * *

The next day during class, the topic of the festival was brought up. "Our class is in charge of light meals," the class president announced. "So everyone, please write up a meal you'd like on a piece of paper and pass it back up."

What kind of food did they serve at festivals? He didn't remember. He hadn't been to a festival in a very long time. So he listened to the kids around him; he heard both 'onigiri' and 'tonjiru' a lot, so he wrote those both down. And then someone else suggested arajiru, which he really liked, so he wrote that down too.

Once all the papers were passed back and the votes counted, onigiri and tonjiru were chosen as the main foods, which he was okay with. He could make both of those easily. All the students started planning and volunteering for different tasks in order to help run the stall; Rin volunteered to cook. A lot of the other male students were looking at him askance – he'd show them. He was _good_ at cooking. Only Godain gave him an encouraging smile, which he returned with a much smaller but genuine smile as well.

As soon as class ended, he packed up and left, but Godain followed him out and began walking with him.

"What do you think of the festival?" He asked. Rin sighed. The festival was really a big thing here.

"Don't know – the last time I went I was too young to really remember it all. So it's like this one will be my first."

"I'm also looking forward to it – but I'm kind of bummed about the dance party," Godain admitted.

"Dance party?" Was it mandatory? Because that was a frightening prospect.

"You have to be a boy-girl couple to enter," Godain clarified, and Rin sighed in relief. That was one bullet dodged.

"Hey, well, I have to go to Cram School now, so, see you?" After receiving Godain's 'bye', Rin strolled over to the next open door and stuck in the key to the Cram School's hallway and entered the classroom.

The first thing he saw was Shima looking very excited, trying to get Miwa and Suguro to understand his point of view about something. And that something turned out to be the dance for the school festival. Rin didn't get it; why was it such a big deal? Shima was really smug, though, and said he was going to ask one of his friends to go with him.

The next day at Cram School, Rin arrived to a very depressed-looking Shima.

"What's wrong with him?" He asked, and Miwa sighed before answering.

"It turns out that he's not good enough friends with all of the girls he knows, so they turned him down."

The dance _again?_

"Well, he might start focusing on his training, then," Rin said. "You were just complaining about that the other day, right?"

Miwa turned slightly red. Was he embarrassed? He'd get over it.

* * *

Finally, the day of the festival arrived. It was supposed to start with a speech by Samael; all the students and attendees had gathered in front of the stage that had been erected in one of the open fields. But he wasn't there.

"Hey, look up there!" Someone yelled, and everyone looked up at the sky. Rin squinted at the black dot that was steadily increasing in size and facepalmed.

Samael was such a show-off.

With a loud thud, Samael landed on the wooden stage and swept off his hat.

"Lengthy speeches are dumb, so I'll make this short – Eat! Drink! Dance! Remember you're still students, but enjoy yourselves! The True Cross Festival is officially open!"

And with that, the students scattered; Rin went over to the class's booth and tied on a headband and apron. It was time to get to work. The day progressed, with lots of people and noise and food, going well until midway through the afternoon.

"Why hello, Rin! Just what are you selling here?"

Great. Samael just had to interrupt the nice workflow they'd had. Now all the other class members running the stall with him, not to mention the people in line, were muttering about his relationship with Samael, as he was the Director of the Academy. And those bunny ears – wow.

"Hey, uh, Faust. If you want some you've gotta line up like a regular person, you know?" And surprisingly, he actually did get in line. So when he got up to the front Rin handed him some tonjiru and Samael tried it. And then froze.

"Woah, that's good! Set up your food stall inside the festival's meeting place tomorrow. I've got the budget for everything you'd need, so don't worry about it – although, you should get a few female workers...it's pretty dirty."

And with a flick of his fingers, all the dirty dishes were clean. Which was way over the top, but really helpful.

"Aw yeah, Godain, we're totally the best!" Rin exclaimed as soon as Samael had left. He was a good enough cook to impress Samael, who was notoriously picky. That was an achievement. But as for finding more female workers...

Eventually the first day drew to a close, and the people dispersed, and they disassembled the stall. It was moving the next day, after all, and to a more advantageous location. As for the workers – Shiemi was already doing the haunted house thing, and he didn't really know any other girls besides her and Kamiki – but Kamiki wasn't doing anything, was she? He could ask her. But he'd have to find her first.

As far as he could remember, she'd been planning on visiting the haunted house late today with her friend, so he'd look around there first. He got to the hallway where they'd had it, but he didn't see her; maybe her scent was still around? So he sniffed, focusing on familiar scents, and found what he was pretty sure was hers - it was reminiscent of her byakko, but in a good way. Like ripe wheat, or rice.

He followed it down the hall a ways, then glanced up and saw her at the bottom of an adjacent staircase. He jumped the balcony railing, landing just a few meters away from her.

"Hey, Kamiki, finally found you!"

"Okumura?" Man, he'd known these people for what, a year now?

"Eh, you can call me Rin. Anyways – can you do me a huge favor?" He asked. She looked surprised.

"It depends on what it is." There was a short pause. "And, uh, I guess you can call me Izumo, too." And that was a pleasant surprise. Maybe she'd agree to his request after all. She started walking again, and he followed along, walking faster until they were in line with each other.

"Our food stand did really well at the festival today, so Samael – er, Mephisto – told me that we should move to the festival's meeting place tomorrow."

"Congrats," she said. "That's pretty good, but you still haven't explained this favor that you want..."

"He also said that we needed more female workers - "

"No."

He turned to her. She was frowning and looking disapproving.

"Please?"

"I'm not going to stand there to look pretty – that's both demeaning and a waste of my time. Go ask someone else," she responded.

"That's not it," Rin explained. "Sam – Mephisto said that our stall was dirty and that we should get more female workers to make sure it stays clean."

Izumo raised an eyebrow. "I'm not going to just do dishes the entire time, either."

Rin laughed. "You can just order us around if you want to. But that was one of the conditions, so please? I trust you."

She gave him a long-suffering sigh. "Fine, I'll be there."

"Yes! Thanks for helping out – I owe you a favor, now, so just call it in when you need to." He grinned. She didn't.

"You're so naïve," she muttered. "I don't trust anybody."

Rin didn't think she meant for him to hear that; but with his hearing, he couldn't help it. But what did she mean by it?

"Well – see you tomorrow," he said. She turned the corner, heading towards her dormitory, and he continued on towards his own.

* * *

Rin yawned. Yukio was already gone; as expected – his job supervising had him busy all day. And speaking of all day, he had to get ready quickly – they had to set up the stall again with the new equipment Samael was providing. And would take a while.

First, they had to get the frame up, and then there was the portable stove (that had to be plugged in, but thankfully there was an outlet close by), and then the counter part had to be set up – the cash register, the food stand (where they put some of the ready food). And then they had to make sure the refrigerator was plugged in (into that same outlet). And there was the food to start preparing, and they had to make sure the dishes were all clean and not broken, and then they had to get the disposable containers for the food (they had some left over from the day before, but not enough).

Needless to say, it was a lot of work. By the time the food stand actually opened, he was already tired. And he'd signed up to be on duty the whole time!

Well, Izumo would get there in a couple hours, and hopefully things would be smoother then.

So, he sucked it up, and kept making food. For two hours, and then he glanced at the clock. It was nearly five, which was when he'd asked Izumo to start. But he didn't see her.

"Hey, has Izumo shown up yet?" He asked. One of the other boys looked around.

"Sorry Okumura, I don't see her."

That wasn't good. But she was probably just late. And he'd been working for a while...

"Hey, I'm taking a break, think you can manage?"

"Yeah, sure."

Rin was about to head off, then paused. "Come find me if Izumo gets here, okay?" And after that he headed into the crowd.

He just wandered for a little bit, looking curiously at all the stands. There were what looked like other food stands – that one was selling bananas? In chocolate? Huh. Too bad he didn't have any money of him at the moment. And another one was for catching goldfish – he'd seen that before, when Iblis had taken him to a smaller festival.

The crowd shifted for a moment, revealing, surprisingly, Shiemi.

"Hey, Shiemi," he said, making his way towards her.

"Hello, Okumura - " He cut her off.

"Call me Rin. It's confusing when me and Yukio are together." She blushed slightly, but agreed.

"Hello, Rin. How are you liking the festival?" She asked.

"Oh, it's alright," he said. And then he picked up something – well, someone – out of the corner of his eye. "Hey, Yukio's over there, wanna go say hi?"

She looked up eagerly. "Of course!"

They managed to weave their way through the crowd, though it was packed rather tightly, and went up to Yukio. They looked at each other and nodded.

"Yukio, dance with us!" And with that proclamation, they each took one of his arms and dragged him over to a clearer spot. And they danced. The harried look on Yukio's face eventually turned to exasperation, and then amusement, and soon enough they were all laughing.

They had fun were another couple minutes, but then Yukio broke away, looking worried and intense.

"Kamiki? Are you sure? Got it."

Yukio looked worried now, and he'd mentioned something about Izumo. What had happened?

"Stay here," Yukio said. "I'm going to gather the other exwires and come right back."

So Rin and Shiemi waited in tense silence until the others returned. Then Yukio announced the news.

"The Illuminati is making a move – apparently they're targeting Kamiki. So find her, quick."

They were each assigned an area to search; Rin volunteered to look around the stand, where she was supposed to have been, and then around the arcade.

He sprinted back to the stand. "Hey, has Izumo shown up?"

Godain looked up at him, obviously surprised by his tense expression and breathless question. "No, I think you might have to give up on that idea, I don't think she likes you enough..."

Rin ran off again, not caring for Godain's implication – but also because her not being there meant Izumo was still missing. And they had to find her. If not for her own sake, then to stop the Illuminati. Their end goal would only hurt Assiah, and Rin wasn't about to let that happen.

He'd just made it to the arcade when he felt a massive spike of demonic energy from one of the upper courtyards. Not good. He started running again, this time channeling some flame energy through his body to increase his speed.

As he approached, he caught the distinctive sulfurous scent of one of the flame demons, and judging by the random spurts of black flame he could see, it was one of the nobility. And anyone able to make a summoning contract with a demon that powerful was bound to be trouble. But not too much to defeat Rin; he'd been training in combat since childhood, and his flames were the second most potent in all of Gehenna aside from Satan's. So he should win, unless something stopped him.

He was close, now; there were only a couple flights of stairs to ascend, which he did with a few flame-enhanced jumps. Only to stop dead.

"Shima?" He asked, utterly stunned. Out of all the outcomes, he never would have predicted this. He was there already, holding an unconscious Izumo in his arms. But the way he was smiling... and his staff – it was letting off wisps of black fire. Takara was nearby, looking beat up, a plastic toy at his feet.

Izumo's words to him from the night before came rushing back: _You're so naïve. I don't trust anybody._ Was this what she meant? Did she know she was a target of the Illuminati?

"Oh look," Shima said, glancing up at the sky. "The boss is here."

Rin glanced up at the sky; there was a helicopter descending to the courtyard. It landed and several people got out, each wearing the official uniform of the Illuminati.

The others showed up then, presumably having seen the helicopter land. They were all as stunned as Rin was, and froze upon reaching the courtyard.

Shima spoke again, as the other members set large shields down in an upright position. "Eh? We aren't running away?"

"Just be patient," the lady said. "Just watch, and don't do anything reckless."

Soon after her words, a light started shining in the sky. It grew quickly, forming the shape of a seraphim. It was insane; was Lucifer himself coming?

The light brightened to an almost unbearable level; Rin wasn't sure if the others would be able to withstand it, since it was charged with demonic energy. It hurt his eyes, sure, but it could affect the others negatively, even burning their souls, like exposure to sunlight could burn their skin. He positioned himself so he was blocking the worst of it, but it still wasn't enough; Bon was considerably taller than he was and they were also spread out too much.

But then Samael showed up, standing next to him and blocking enough of Lucifer's light to keep the others from getting affected by it too badly. Rin watched as the light coalesced into a masked figure wearing a decorated Illuminati uniform. The brightness dimmed, contained in the figure's body.

"I apologize for delivering my message so forcefully," the figure said in a low, smooth voice. "I am the leader of the Illuminati – the King of Light, Lucifer."

"Older brother!" Samael exclaimed in false excitement. "I haven't seen you in a long time; hehe... That mask looks good on you!"

Was he perhaps a bit nervous? Rin didn't blame him; Lucifer was the oldest of the brothers and the most powerful, though with both him and Samael it would be possible to defeat him. Especially since his scent was off; Rin didn't think the body he was possessing was in the best shape. But a face-off between the three of them would no doubt result in a massive amount of collateral damage, and the festival was just starting to wrap up for the day.

"Samael... as I can see it, you're as lively as ever. And could it be... young Rin? I have heard much about you... little brother." Rin growled. Lucifer was seriously making him angry. First he kidnaps his friend, then he patronizes him?

"At a time like this, what kind of business do you have in this remote area?" Samael asked.

Lucifer opened his arms wide in a grand gesture. "As the first stage, we, the Illuminati, have come to declare our intentions. In one year, from this day, we will revive Father, the God of Demons, Satan himself."

Rin was appalled. That would destroy Assiah! But Lucifer continued.

"And then, we will unify the divided Assiah and Gehenna. We will return to the original state where light and darkness were born. By doing so, all will be equal and free from affliction. The world will be truly peaceful."

"I call _bull!_ " Rin yelled, but was silenced by a quick glare from Samael. Yes, he knew that the more Lucifer talked, the more information they could get but it was getting under his skin.

"We, the Illuminati, do not forgive those who deny this goal. However... we always open the door to those who listen. Samael... this is the last time I'll be asking you as your brother... come with me."

Rin looked up at Samael face and was surprised to see his lips twisted into a grimace. "That's impossible," he stated flatly. "Your way – to long for the heavens and creep about – is shameful. Peace is surely the disorder where different things coexist with each other."

"Why is it," Lucifer mused, "That you believe so? There are more beings than ones who are as powerful as you. There are many weak beings as well."

"Our values still differ, I guess." Samael said with a shrug.

"It seems so," Lucifer agreed. He turned to Rin. "You should give it some thought as well... Rin."

He stepped forward. "I will be taking the young man and the girl. Farewell for now." Lucifer turned and stepped forward – and then collapsed. It was just as Rin thought; his body was starting to give out. But that didn't mean his demonic power was diminished in the slightest.

Shima turned as well – all the Illuminati were leaving.

"Thanks for trusting me 'til now – I guess it's farewell."

"What's this joke – Shima - " Rin heard from behind him. It was Suguro. "What's with that lame farewell line – you'll think I'll accept this? Shima!"

"Bon..." Miwa said quietly, but Suguro wasn't about to back down. Rin knew the other boy's anguish. Shima got in the helicopter, and it lifted off the ground.

" _RENZOU!_ "

Rin winced at Suguro's shout and turned to Samael. "What happens now?"

"Well, it's not the end of it – Lucifer just declared war." Just after Samael stopped, small explosions were heard. Samael spoke again. "Just as I thought – he just destroyed the last of the barriers around this place."

Demons were swarming in the sky as the suddenly vulnerable town came to their attention.

"I have the feeling that the other branches are in a similar situation," he continued. "I must take control here. Okumura Yukio! I'm assigning you a mission – take all these exwires with you, as well as Takara Nemu over here – he's an exorcist I hired - and go rescue Izumo."

"Got it." Yukio stated.

"What about Shima?" Suguro asked, desperation creeping into his voice. Samael looked pensive.

"For now, we'll have to assume he's the Illuminati's spy."

"We'll bring him back," Rin said firmly. "We'll bring them both back."

* * *

 **A/N: Whew! And then we have the rest of the Illuminati situation, and then be prepared for it to go AU after that!**

 **On a side note: Happy Birthday to both this story and my brother (he's fifteen now), who convinced me I should actually publish it. Reviewers, thank him. (Unless of course it's you, bro).**


	22. Chapter 22: Illuminati

**Disclaimer: I don't own Blue Exorcist.**

* * *

Rin lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling; Lucifer's declaration had given him a lot to think about. First, his offer. Why would Lucifer bother inviting him to join the Illuminati? Sure, he was a valuable wartime asset – but he'd been living in Samael's, for lack of a better word, control – for near on a year. Lucifer had to have known that; Shima was one of his spies, after all. And from what Rin had seen, Samael detested their oldest brother, so why bother trying to recruit him, who could have been influenced by Samael's ideas? The only conceivable reason Rin could see for Lucifer's offer was to keep an eye on him – but perhaps, since he had also offered the same to Samael it wasn't quite as he'd assumed? Rin was a skilled combatant, after all. It could be that Lucifer thought the gain outweighed the risks.

But pondering over Lucifer's reasoning didn't really matter so much, the question was whether or not Rin really was going to join him – at least in name. So far, Samael had been looking out for him, keeping the Vatican off his back, and Rin was going to miss the relative safety of being an exwire. The biggest kicker would be, however, leaving those he'd grown close to. Especially Yukio. He didn't want to have to leave his brother again, so soon after they had started to build their relationship.

That was no excuse, though. If he wanted to change anything, accomplish anything, he'd have to go. That way, at least, he'd have a small chance to catch Lucifer at a vulnerable moment. And there was the truth that as an exwire, he was limited in the intelligence he received and the things he could do. He sighed.

The door opened then, and Rin blinked and squinted as the light turned on. He sat up.

"Oh, sorry, Rin." Yukio flipped the lights back off and Rin felt a small smile creep onto his face. There was a rustling, and a soft 'whump' - Yukio had gotten in bed, too.

"Make sure you get some rest; we've got a big mission tomorrow."

"Yeah, I got it." There was another thing to add to his worries; Yukio's reticence about whatever was bothering him.

Despite all that, it wasn't long before Rin fell asleep.

* * *

"Yes, Dad, got it – I'll make sure he's not too reckless."

Rin woke to Yukio's voice speaking softly – he sounded worried.

"Hey, is that Shiro?" Rin asked. Yukio had called whoever he was speaking to 'Dad'. Yukio nodded. "Can I – can I talk to him?"

Yukio held up a finger; Rin waited a moment and was handed the phone.

"Hello?" Rin said, feeling a bit awkward.

 _"Rin!"_ Shiro sounded excited. _"How are things?"_

"Pretty good," Rin answered amiably. He glanced over at the clock – they were supposed to leave in just under an hour, so there was a bit of time in which to talk.

 _"That's good – have you made any new friends?"_ Shiro asked.

"Yeah, Suguro's pretty cool – don't tell him I said that – Miwa is too, he's pretty smart. Kamiki and Shiemi are really reliable. Shura's fun to spar with."

 _"I'm so proud! I remember when you were little, you were so bad at making friends - "_

"Please stop," Rin said, embarrassed. It was a good kind of embarrassed, though – not humiliating, just embarrassing, and it implied a familiarity that was comforting, something he hadn't felt since leaving Gehenna – Thaziel and Iblis had teased him often.

 _"In all seriousness, Rin,"_ Shiro said, voice hard, _"I needed to warn you – the Grigori has been acting oddly for a while, and just now they've decided you're too high-risk; they have ordered your execution."_

Rin's grip tightened on the phone until he heard an ominous creak; he breathed deeply and forced himself to relax his hand. "And what do you think about this?"

 _"Stay with Mephisto, he'll make sure you aren't killed. But Rin – if you're thinking badly about the Grigori - "_

Of course he was thinking badly of them; they'd reneged on their promise and ordered his death! If that's what they were going to do, maybe Satan had been just a little bit right? Maybe the exorcist order truly was corrupt? Maybe, maybe they deserved -

" - I don't think it was actually them."

What?

 _"I did mention they've been acting oddly, right? I think the Illuminati has replaced the Grigori – they all wear masks, anyway, and if they had enough skilled operatives – and I've been getting massive amounts of paperwork from them recently, and not been able to go on proper missions. I've been trying to convince the other ArcKnights something's wrong – I think I've convinced Lightning, but Angel is being stubborn, as usual... Just - be careful, Rin, okay? Don't make any rash decisions."_

As Shiro explained, Rin grew confused. If the Illuminati had taken over the Grigori, why had they ordered his execution? But Lucifer probably hadn't expected Shiro to figure out about the takeover, not to mention communicating it to Rin – and suddenly it made perfect sense. If the 'Grigori' really had ordered his execution, it would shake his trust in the exorcists – and it would make him more likely to join the Illuminati, as Samael was still technically part of the Exorcist Order and would either have to rebel or kill Rin himself.

The phone was quiet, and Rin realized that Shiro was waiting for an answer.

"Y-yeah, got it, I'll be careful." As careful as he could be, going in solo to the enemy's base.

 _"Good. Well, work is calling..."_ Rin could practically hear the grimace in his voice and smiled.

"Later, Shiro."

 _"Goodbye for now, Rin."_

Rin handed the phone back to Yukio, who had gotten dressed in the time he'd been talking, and proceeded to gather his own clothes and pile them on top of his towel and went to take a shower.

He came back, hair dripping uncomfortably, and shook his head, scattering drops of water everywhere. Yukio frowned. His weapons were next to be prepared. One dagger went on his forearm, the other on his thigh; his sword went on his hip and Kurikara, of course, hadn't been unsealed since he'd gotten the tattoo-seal, so he was set. As for basic supplies, though, he'd have to make sure he packed a few extra changes of clothes – he'd wait for Yukio to leave the room.

* * *

It wasn't a long train ride from True Cross to the airport, and though the flight was a bit hectic with everyone's questions it wasn't long either – and thankfully, nobody got motion sick, though Shiemi's sandwiches tried their best. They ended up in Shimane prefecture, where Takara had informed them Izumo was being held – apparently he had handed her a summoned familiar sometime the night before.

"Oh! More visitors, welcome!" An old man greeted them, but they hadn't seen many other people – from what Rin could tell, the place looked just like another little farm town.

"Thank you, sir," Yukio responded politely. "Could you point us towards the town, please?"

"Sure," the man agreed. "There's taxi's and buses, but it would probably be faster to walk, so – just follow this road and you'll get to the town in half an hour, more or less – it's just about two miles that-a-ways."

Yukio nodded, once again thanking the man, and they set off. They were quiet for most of the walk there, the anticipation pressing on their minds. But then Rin sniffed. And sniffed again. The others were giving him weird looks, but he stopped an inhaled deeply through his nose.

"What are you doing, Rin?" Yukio asked, part exasperated and part amused. Rin could feel himself drooling; he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand before replying.

"It smells... so good... come on, let's hurry up!"

Rin sped up, leaving the others to either speed up as well or get left behind. A couple minutes later, they started hearing a dull murmur, which quickly grew louder as the town came into view.

It was a tourist town.

"How're we supposed to find Kamiki in this mess?" Suguro asked, annoyed. Rin agreed – the whole street was packed, crowds of people everywhere. It didn't help, either, that the amazing smell of the festival food overpowered any other scents. And Takara's locating spell was apparently picking up some interference.

"Let's go check out the shrine," Yukio suggested. It was a good idea; shrines were usually the main site for any possible demonic activity.

The shrine was much clearer compared to the main street – there were less people, and the air seemed fresher somehow, the smell of the festival food not nearly so enticing. Rin felt his mind clearing; he hadn't even noticed the slight haze that had affected his mind earlier. Was it the smell of the food, then, something addicting? Whatever it was, he was glad to be out of the worst of it; he was starting to get a bit of a headache.

Rin leaned on the railing – his headache was worsening for some reason.

"Takara? What is that?" Yukio sounded reproachful, so Rin looked up. Takara had managed to find a fox puppet – a rather nice one, really.

"It's a puppet. 1.2 million yen – a reasonable expense," Takara explained calmly, but Yukio nearly blew his top.

"What did you say?" Granted, it was a larger sum than strictly necessary.

"I ask the grace of Inari, the god of Harvest, to fulfill my prayers. One who has a relation with Kamiki Izumo and this land, come forth."

Rin watched, surprised, as Takara managed to summon a fox spirit named Mike, who, as he recalled, was one of the two spirits Izumo regularly summoned. The fox spirit proceeded to tell them the story of Izumo's childhood, and her mother's possession. And the involvement of the Illuminati. However interesting and informative it was, Rin didn't see how it was necessary for the mission, so he waited impatiently for the fox to finish talking. Meanwhile, he was studying a flyer Miwa had picked up from one of the townspeople.

"I'm pretty sure I know where we need to go," Rin announced. "To that huge shopping mall – it's a front."

"Yes, that seems right," Mike agreed. "The facilities are underground – under this entire area."

A sudden thought struck Rin. "Do you know why Izumo was taken? I understand it's to replace her mother – but why do they want somebody possessed by a demon? Are they experimenting on her?"

The fox looked like he was getting angry. Rin was getting angry, too, and more than a bit concerned. A move this desperate meant they were probably getting close to finishing whatever they were doing – which, Rin believed, was what he had discovered nearly a year ago – the serum for an immortal body. All of a sudden, the mission grew more urgent.

"We need to hurry. We need to be there now, we have to get her out of there." Rin knew his voice was cold, flat – but he didn't know how to impress on the others exactly how urgent the mission was without telling them the everything, which they didn't have time for. "I'm going now, you're welcome to join me."

Rin hopped over the railing, landing solidly on the ground below. The others looked surprised, but were making their way down the stairs quickly, so he waited for them to get to the bottom before moving on.

They had to make their way through the main street again, to get to the mall complex, but Rin, now aware of the effect the smell had on him, tried to breathe through his mouth – even going so far as to pull the collar of his shirt up over his face, however stupid it looked – and whatever odd looks his teammates were sending his way. It kept his mind clear, but it didn't help his headache at all, which was steadily worsening.

"Um – what's wrong, Rin?" Miwa asked.

"The smell's giving me a headache – made my head fuzzy the first time around, too," Rin explained, not wanting to breathe in any more of it more than strictly necessary.

Yukio turned to him at his words. "Why didn't you say something earlier?"

"Cause it wasn't bad earlier, that's why, now let's just go!"

"Wait, hold on a second," Yukio protested. "We need all our members at full fighting capacity. Now, the effects of something like this can be lessened by certain herbs..."

"What, you mean like Shiemi's grass sandwiches?" Rin said sarcastically, but Yukio's expression lightened.

"Exactly like that!"

And so Rin ended up eating one of Shiemi's sandwiches. His headache went away, and his mind stayed clear – but he still wasn't sure it was worth the nasty taste in his mouth, which he was still discreetly trying to wipe away as they approached the entrance to the mall's complex.

They were debating whether or not to act, much to Rin's impatience, even going so far as to call Samael, when Mike's presence suddenly left the doll Takara had.

"I'm going in," Rin said. He stood, making himself visible, and walked towards the guards standing to the sides of the glass doors.

"Hey – you're not - " but whatever Rin wasn't, the guard didn't say; he was down and out before anyone else knew what was happening. The second guard was dispatched in a similar manner, leaving the doors free. Rin walked in, the others close behind.

Immediately upon entering the building, he felt a sense of wrongness. It could have to do with the massive demonic presence below them – Lucifer, obviously – or the slightly smaller one – most likely the kitsune spirit – but he thought it was most likely the thousands of tainted souls that he sensed. The tainted souls, several of which were approaching them.

There were no signs of life until a staggering figure appeared – and Rin wouldn't really classify it as 'alive'. More like 'undead'. Because, of course, it was a zombie.

Yukio took out his gun and shot twice, getting the zombie twice through the head. It went down. And then it sat back up, scaring Miwa nearly out of his wits. Yukio frowned.

"I could have sworn that last one went through its brain..." He shot it again.

A gasp from Shiemi alerted the rest of them to a veritable horde of the things coming down one of the hallways towards their group. And then the one Yukio shot sat up again, half its head missing.

"They won't die!" Shiemi said, panicked.

"I could shoot them with my bazooka," Suguro offered.

"No, if it didn't work we'd be swarmed by human torches – but if we use Rin's flames, they might get turned to ash instantly!"

"Sounds like a plan - "

Before Rin could do so much as step forward, the floor jolted, sending them all off balance, and then opened like a giant camera lens. They all fell into a giant funnel, and then into separate tubes. It seemed like minutes until Rin hit some surface. He groaned; he'd landed flat on his back, which of course meant his tail was at least bruised, if not broken.

It was pitch-black, so he lit up – his flames cast an eerie pattern on the walls of the room he'd landed in.

"Hey!" He said, making sure his voice carried. "Anyone there?"

There was silence for a moment, before a low 'p-pre-preyyy...' echoed around the room. Rin immediately went on his guard. And then the lights turned on.

The far wall of the room was a slowly opening gate, behind which was some... thing... it looked like a massive zombie, but inhuman – like a whole group of zombies had been combined. Whatever it was, it was ugly, and it was coming towards him. So he took his sword, flared his flames, and slashed at the thing, charring it to ashes.

Turning to the side of the room, he thrust his sword into the wall and pulled down, the sword melting the metal as it went. In just a couple minutes he had a hole large enough to climb through, and went out to see what was happening. He jumped to the top of the room he'd been it – apparently, they were just boxes in a much larger space. There were several more boxes, and he suspected his friends were in the others. His theory was proved when Miwa appeared from another – his zombie chimera still chasing him.

With a sigh, Rin rescued the small boy, slashing through the zombie as he flared his flames, immolating it. Not too long after, one of the other boxes burst, a tree having forced its way through the metal. It was Shiemi's greenman, with Shiemi riding on one of the tree's limbs.

"I think we should get the others out," Miwa suggested. Rin concurred.

"Satan _Boom!_ " The ends of the rest of the boxes exploded, allowing the others out – and thankfully, they had already defeated their own zombies, so he didn't have to worry about getting rid of any more of them. Takara, Yukio, and Suguro soon appeared, making their way over the tops of the boxes towards them.

"You're late!" Yukio accused, and Rin was taken aback.

"What d'ya mean? How could I possibly be late, we all just got back together!"

Before the argument could escalate further, they were interrupted by a broadcasted voice.

 _"Kihihi. Be quiet, unsightly cockroaches. I am the head of this Illuminati research facility, Gedouin Michael. How dare you invade my sanctuary!"_ The voice yelled, sounding angry. _"This is the sanctuary of the experiments on immortality!"_

The voice prattled on, but Rin felt both vindicated and concerned – this was indeed the facility in which they were making the elixir. After several more minutes of babbling, the disgusting man – because he was not the most ideal specimen of a human, neither morally nor physically – pulled a lever, releasing yet another of the monstrous chimera zombies. But this one was larger, so much so that Rin didn't know if he'd be able to defeat it by himself: a monster that size wouldn't burn quickly enough for them to be out of danger, like the others.

And further compounding on their new obstacles, Izumo had emerged from one of the doorways of the room's central column. Rin took in her appearance with some confusion. Why was she wearing a kimono? There were several people following her; one of which was a woman in a wheelchair who smelled strongly of kitsune and decay. The small procession went along one of the metal walkways – it was the perfect opportunity to try and get to Izumo. Rin sheathed his sword and jumped, using his flames to launch himself high enough so he'd land on the walkway in front of Izumo.

"What are you doing?" She hissed at him. "Go away! I didn't ask for anyone to come and help me! This is something I have to do, so leave!"

"Sorry, but I can't do that," Rin answered. Whatever her motivation, it didn't matter in the big picture – he could _not_ allow Lucifer's research to be continued.

He took a step forward – either to knock Izumo out or grab her arm, he wasn't sure yet – but his path was blocked by a familiar metal staff.

"I can't let you stop this, Rin," Shima said. His face was grave, no traces of his usual smile present. Rin pulled out his knives – it was considerably less difficult to fight non-lethally with his knives rather than his sword, and he wanted to keep Shima occupied as long as possible to allow the others a chance to get up to the walkway, and maybe even figure out a way to get rid of the super chimera zombie.

They fought for several minutes, during which time Izumo performed a dance, got possessed and shortly after un-possessed, the kitsune spirit having returned to the woman in the wheelchair. It was rather chaotic, especially with that creepy scientist yelling constantly and the battle against the massive chimera zombie still ongoing – but it had finally stopped growing. At one point Rin had gotten fed up and 'accidentally' hit Gedouin in the face – he flew back, a massive bruise blooming on his face.

He and Shima sprang apart, both to catch their breath - although Shima looked much more tired than Rin felt - and Rin glanced around to check on the others. He was a bit surprised when he noticed the super zombie had stopped moving as well - it was finally dead – and it looked like Izumo was safe now, as well.

"Hey, what is he doing?" Rin heard Yukio say – he looked back and the scientist was putting on some sort of odd metal helmet.

"Do you think I didn't do the experiment on myself? Of course I did and I survived! Now, with this 'Savior's Mask', I will be possessed by a demon, and you will die!"

Rin watched in horrified fascination as the idiot scientist beamed. The helmet started to gather a worrying amount of demonic energy, catching Shima's attention as well. The scientist's body distorted – he was really getting possessed – and he grew into a massive _thing_. Rin thought he might have been possessed by some sort of water demon – the tentacles didn't really happen in any of the other demon kingdoms – but it was soon clear that the scientist still though rationally, or at least as rationally as he had been thinking before. Unfortunately.

Shima took off, most likely not wanting to get tangled up in the scientist's mess, and Rin followed him. What with Suguro's bazooka, Shiemi's greenman, Yukio's gun and general knowledge, Miwa's brain, and Takara and Izumo's familiars they'd be able to defeat the possessed scientist without him. And Shima running gave him the perfect out.

"I'm going after Shima!" Rin yelled.

"Don't kill him!" Yukio called back. "We need info!"

"I won't!" He took off after Shima, catching up to him quickly and then halting. The other boy turned around, staff poised, eyes hard.

"What are you here for?" He asked. Rin sheathed his knives and extended his hands slowly, palms up.

"I just want to talk to Lucifer," Rin replied. "He made me an offer the night you captured Kamiki. I came to tell him my response."

The staff lowered, though Shima still looked rather wary. "I'll take you to him," he said after a moment of hesitation.

"Thanks, Shima."

They started walking, Rin close behind Shima. It was quiet, their footsteps echoing eerily off of the metal walls. There was an awkward tension, one Rin tried his best to break with a question. "How are the uniforms?"

"...what?" Shima looked confused. Rin acknowledged that he was probably expecting him to ask something else, but why bother asking a question he knew wouldn't be answered?

"How are the uniforms? Are they comfortable? Because if I'm gonna be working with you, I'll need to know the uniform's feel to decide if I want to wear them or not."

"Oh. Well, they're good, I guess, except the color is a little weird, me having pink hair and all."

Rin nodded sagely. "That's just you, though. How do they _feel_? You know, are they more or less comfortable than the True Cross uniforms?"

Shima looked thoughtful for a moment before replying. "It's not so different, except the coat is more closely tailored and the boots are easier to put on and take off – no laces, see?"

He stuck out his foot and Rin saw, with no small amount of envy, that the boots indeed lacked any sort of laces. The laces on the True Cross boots – which went up nearly to the knee – took _ages_ to tie, and the same amount of time to take off.

"Huh."

Shima stopped, standing in front of a metal door marked with a white symbol. He knocked four times, then paused; a faint 'enter' came from behind the door. With one last glance at Rin, Shima opened the door.

"Lord Lucifer, I've brought you Rin Okumura."

"Thank you, Shima." Rin raised an eyebrow. Though his presence was as large and intimidating as ever, Lucifer's body looked awful. No wonder Gedouin had been so desperate to finish that serum. For a moment Rin contemplated killing Lucifer's body – it was extremely vulnerable at the moment, after all – but he reminded himself that if he did so, Lucifer's spirit would just go back to Gehenna, he would find another body to possess, and Rin's plans would all evaporate. He turned his attention back to the present. "You are dismissed."

Shima looked surprised, but left, closing the door firmly behind him. It was only Rin and Lucifer in the room, though they were probably being watched on surveillance cameras or some such technology.

"Have you come to accept my offer, younger brother?" Lucifer asked.

"I haven't decided that yet," Rin responded in a guarded tone. Lucifer didn't look surprised.

"Then what have you come for? Answers, perhaps?" Rin scowled, and Lucifer's impassive expression turned slightly amused.

"What are you playing at, Lucifer? We both know Father isn't like what you're saying. He's not going to reward you for uniting Assiah and Gehenna – in fact, he'd probably punish you! So what's your game?"

"Samael was right, you are clever," Lucifer said. "But if you want me to answer your question, first answer one of mine: What is your opinion on our illustrious father?"

It was difficult to decide what he was going to say; one wrong word and his efforts would be useless.

"What if... what if I were to say that I thought being... stranded... in Assiah is more of a boon that a blessing? Because it gets me away from him?"

"Then I would tell you that I believe Father has outlived his reign. He has ruled for millenia – it is time for another to take the throne – someone stronger."

Rin wasn't expecting that – well, he was expecting Lucifer wasn't as obedient to their father as he pretended, but he hadn't expected him to be so open about it. And were the rest of his organization aware of Lucifer's true goal? He recovered as best he could and replied, "It sounds as if we are in agreement, then."

"Indeed," Lucifer agreed, amusement laced through his voice. He paused and smiled. "You may, of course, wear whatever you wish – you are not required to wear the uniform; you may even choose to wear just the boots."

Rin felt his face heat up; it seemed as though despite his host body's deteriorating condition, Lucifer still retained his demonic senses. Apparently he had heard most of the conversation between him and Shima. How embarrassing.

"...Thanks."

Lucifer coughed – a single cough at first, and then more. One arm wrapped around his ribs, the other coming up to cover his mouth. His coughing sounded painful, almost wet; Rin could see red seeping out between his fingers.

"Hey – Lucifer – are you all right?" Rin asked, alarmed despite his best efforts not to be. He shook his head, trying to clear it away – Lucifer was his enemy! He'd kidnapped Izumo, just for an experiment – he couldn't afford to like him just because he had a sense of humor! He couldn't afford to pity him just because he started coughing up blood; that was just a body he was possessing, and it was his own fault it had deteriorated that much. Rin had to remain aloof, even though they shared the same demonic blood.

The door burst open loudly, the lady with the white streak in her hair rushing in and pushing Lucifer down to lie on his back. She turned to Rin, annoyance and worry clear in her expression.

"Go shadow the Shima kid," she barked, as several others in white coats entered the room. "Further instructions later. Go!"

So Rin left to go find Shima. The sooner he got a different uniform, the better: he was still wearing his True Cross uniform and chances were high he'd get attacked or questioned. He took off his jacket and tie, wadding them up; hopefully it would help.

Shima wasn't hard to find. Rin's talk with Lucifer had only lasted a few minutes, albeit a very tense few minutes, before the coughing started, so his scent was relatively fresh and Rin walked fast.

"Hey, Shima," he called down one of the long hallways, having caught sight of a rather bright head of hair. The boy turned, smiling when he saw Rin.

"How did it go?" Shima asked once Rin was closer. Rin grimaced.

"He said I could take only the boots if I wanted."

Shima laughed.

* * *

 **A/N: See, originality! I'm pretty much ignoring canon from this point onwards, so be excited.**

 **Also, I'd like to thank all those who reviewed, favorited, or followed – it means a lot!**


	23. Chapter 23: Plans

**Disclaimer: I don't own Blue Exorcist.**

 **Fair warning: I have more points of view in this chapter, as it's kind of necessary to get all the plot stuff in.**

* * *

"I'm _what?_ " Shiro asked, incredulity coloring his tone.

"You are on probation - you are being investigated for the possibility of treason against the Vatican."

"What, exactly, am I being accused of?" Shiro asked, knowing full well what they were referring to, but not knowing how they'd gotten wind of it.

"Conspiring with Mephisto Pheles to raise Satan's offspring and disobeying orders - namely, failing to execute Satan's spawn. The terms of your probation will be as such: you will remain in your quarters unless escorted by two guards. You will be allowed visitors, but for no more than two hours per day. Will you comply with the investigation?"

Shiro hung his head, more certain than ever that his suspicion regarding the members of the Grigori was correct. First of all, they'd used "it" instead of "them", they could only be referring to one of the twins - most likely Rin, as his flames weren't exactly inconspicuous. And since Rin was still alive, and the right age, they'd surmised correctly that he had chosen to ignore the orders to kill them. And he assumed that they didn't know that Rin had actually spent more than half his life in Gehenna - Shiro, no matter how much he loved Rin as a son, couldn't really take the credit for raising him.

No matter, the Grigori would assume what it would - and it seemed as if they were waiting for a response from him.

"I will," he affirmed.

"Then ArcKnights Light and Angel will escort you back to your room."

Shiro struggled to keep his face impassive; their choice of 'escort' gave him both information and an opportunity. He knew his 'threat level', as two ArcKnights was a really impressive guard detail for one man, even if he was the Paladin. As for the opportunity - as soon as they left the cavernous room, Angel spoke.

"Something's wrong, Fujimoto," he said in a low voice, face pointing away from the cameras. "Despite what I may say, you're better suited to Paladin than any of us; why are they trying to get rid of you?"

"Isn't it obvious, Angel? He's obstructing their efforts. Either that or he's close to discovering something they don't want him to."

"Something like the Grigori being dead? And replaced by Illuminati spies?" Both of the other man were, for once, temporarily struck speechless.

"…That would do it," Lightning agreed.

"Are you sure?" Angel asked heatedly. "The Grigori….they are this order's leaders. If I'm going to believe you, I'm going to need proof, no matter how honest of a man you are. I won't risk treason."

"Understandable," Shiro said. "I don't have any hard evidence yet. But it fits, it really fits. Just think about it, okay?"

Angel grudgingly agreed while Light looked thoughtful. It wasn't surprising. Light was more cautious than Angel, who tended to take things at face value and act somewhat rashly.

* * *

Lewin Light would very much describe himself as a logical person, and so it was just bad luck that Shiro Fujimoto's proposed explanation for the odd behavior of the Grigori was perfectly logical. If it weren't true it would save him a lot of work, but if it _was_ true and he did nothing, it meant their world would be destroyed, and he rather liked the world how it was.

It looked like it was time for a visit to the archives. And maybe a hardware store, to buy some cameras.

* * *

"Well, well, Shiro, don't you look bored." Mephisto's tone was entirely too amused, so Shiro decided to ignore him a feigned sleep.

"Hey! Fujimoto!"

Shiro stretched and slowly sat up. "Come on, Mephisto, I was having such a good dream~"

"Well you'd have even better dreams if you weren't locked up," Mephisto said logically. "Not to mention that the Grigori has ordered your execution as well - and I'd rather that not happen."

"You know, I'd rather that not happen either," Shiro agreed, keeping his voice level despite the somewhat shocking nature of the news Mephisto had rather off-handedly shared. He then gestured towards the open door behind him, which showed the hallway of the Japan branch's headquarters.

"After you, good sir," he said. Shiro rolled his eyes.

"Drama queen."

"Demon king, actually, but close enough."

"Uh-huh. Anyway, how is the situation looking? Who can we depend on? And how are the boys?"

Mephisto visibly hesitated in answering and Shiro knew something was wrong. Maybe not wrong, per se, but definitely not how they had hoped.

"It's not too bad. Most of the Japan branch answers to me rather than the Vatican, so we've got at least this country's exorcists, including the Myodha - and Kirigakure-san, of course." That was his first and second question answered.

"I managed to talk to Light and Angel as well, so they might be joining us later on."

"How… fortunate," Mephisto said, sporting a particularly prominent look of distaste. Shiro sighed.

"However unlikeable their characters, they _are_ powerful exorcists, and we should be grateful for their help."

"Yes, yes, I know."

"And what of the boys?" Mephisto chuckled awkwardly, and Shiro's heart sunk. "Tell me, _Samael_."

"Yukio's fine. A bit disappointed, but otherwise all right. His shoulder is healing nicely." Mephisto stopped.

"And Rin?" Shiro asked, fearing the worst.

"It seems as if he's decided to get to know our oldest brother."

* * *

"…and of course, you will all receive more specific instructions later. Dismissed."

Rin waited for the room to empty, then approached Lucifer.

"How do you communicate with Father without actually going to Gehenna in person?" He asked. Lucifer raised an eyebrow in obvious amusement.

"Is there a particular reason for your question?" He asked.

"I want to get Iblis on board - he's disliked Father since he tried to destroy Assiah a couple centuries ago, or so I've been told. He said he really likes the food. And now the video games."

"Acceptable, then. But you mean to tell me you truly haven't figured it out, then?"

"Obviously, if I've come to you about it," Rin responded irritatedly, causing Lucifer to chuckle.

"Have you tried summoning a demon?' Lucifer asked. "I do it, and as one of the eight kings I have plenty of servants willing to come to my aid - and as one of Satan's sons, you should be able to do the same, though your summons should come from the ninth circle, as opposed to the eighth."

"Oh," Rin said, feeling foolish. "Do you have summoning papers, then?"

Lucifer just stared at him with a slight incredulity. "You are a _demon prince_ , Rin," he stated. "You do not need circles."

"Right. Okay then. So what _do_ I do, then?"

Lucifer sighed.

"Nick your thumb with one of your knives and allow a few drops of blood to fall to the ground. Ask for a servant, however you see fit - I personally prefer a more traditional recitation - and you should find yourself with a demon in front of you. To have them go back, you only have to dismiss them.

"Alright. Thanks, Lucifer." It was similar to how he'd form a Gehenna gate, but required far less blood and none of his flame. He turned and left, intent on trying a summoning immediately. Where to go, though…

His quarters were out, as were the training arenas; he needed both space, in case of a large demon appearing, and privacy, as he didn't want any others to overhear the message he wanted to send to Iblis. That really only left outside of the base, somewhere in the massive forest.

He took an elevator up out of the basement and exited, walking in the general direction of the shrine. Once he was out of the human guards' vision, he turned left, heading off the trail and into the woods.

Luck was on his side, because in less than then minutes of exploring, he found a suitably large clearing to try it in.

He drew one of his knives and pressed it against the pad of his thumb, then turned his hand over and allowed a few drops to fall onto the forest floor.

He deliberated a moment before reciting, in Latin, " _I request a companion to come to my aid."_

Rin watched in fascination as an invisible wind stirred the leaves a few feet in front of him. A nekomata suddenly appeared, just a bit smaller than Shiro's familiar Kuro. And the horns were a pale purple, meaning she was a female.

Usually with nekomata, it was better not to be pretentious or arrogant - just as an Assiahn cat, they judged you by yourself, not any titles. Arrogance didn't really go far with them.

"Hello," Rin said in the demon tongue. "I'm Rin. What is your name?"

"Fuku."

"It's nice to meet you, Fuku. I have but one question, and one humble request."

Fuku shifted to a more comfortable position, looking almost bored. "Okay."

Rin was a bit taken aback by her rather nonchalant agreement, but continued. "My question is: what would be a preferred method of payment for services rendered? And my request is: once dismissed, please relay a message to my brother Iblis."

Fuku deliberated visibly over his statement for a few long moments, then nodded as much as her comfortable-looking position allowed. "That sounds agreeable - as long as your paymentis sufficient. For each message - assuming there is more than just one - I require some high-quality sake, as well as a dish of the finest raw fish."

Was the liking for sake something universal among nekomata? Or just Kuro, and now Fuku?

Rin held back a grimace; the amount she was asking for was very much on the exorbitant side. "That's far too much for one message. After all, the risk to you is very minimal. I'm willing to pay for either the sake or the fish, but not both."

"I have to choose! Consider the negotiations over, then. I will not be undervalued like that."

One thing was for certain, she was _much_ less playful than Kuro. But he desperately needed a way to communicate if his plans were going to succeed.

"I apologize, Fuku. I am willing to buy both fish and sake, though the quantity will most likely be a bit less than you were expecting."

There was a long, tense moment, then Fuku purred in satisfaction. "I will abide by those terms," she commented decisively, and Rin breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

"Thank you, Fuku. If you will accompany me to the nearby town, I will procure the fish and sake which you desire - as much for the delivery and a bit more, as a payment for the inconvenience of being unexpectedly summoned."

With a flat, unimpressed stare, she said, "Don't talk like that. It's annoying."

Rin drew his eyebrows together in confusion. "Talk like what?"

"All formal-like," she responded flatly. "It's all flowery. And like I already said, annoying."

"Oh. Okay then," Rin said, a bit happier.

With a graceful stretch and a jump, she leapt onto his shoulder and then laid over the back of both his shoulders. He allowed himself a small, amused smile, then set off to the town - if he avoided the main alley, the smell wouldn't be nearly as strong, and any headache he got would be less painful and more annoying.

With the help of the more sober locals, he quickly located an izakaya and purchased the sake and fish, serving it to Fuku, who looked extremely pleased.

"So what is the message you wanted me to deliver?" Fuku asked as they exited the izakaya.

"Tell Iblis - and _only_ Iblis - that Lucifer is planning to attack Father in several months with a small army of exorcists, and that he should be gathering supporters."

Fuku's eyes widened slightly, but other than that she betrayed no response. "I'll remember that. Is there anything else?"

"That we should play along. That should be okay for now," Rin decided. "You can go if you want."

She nodded and disappeared with another swirl of air that kicked up some dust. Now all he could do was wait.

* * *

"Are you ready for your little pep talk, Shiro?" Mephisto asked, looking just a touch smug. "It might only determine the fate of the world, so don't get too nervous."

"Thank you, Mephisto," he replied sardonically. "I'd almost forgotten."

He took one deep breath, then another, then slid open the shoji door and walked into the room, back straight.

It was mostly as he'd expected - the Shima, Hojou, and Suguro family heads were sitting together, Shura at the other end of the table in a more… _comfortable_ position. Several of the higher-ranked exorcists from the Japan branch were there as well, but what was really surprising was the appearance of both Light and Angel. He'd suspected that Light might have come, but Angel was a surprise.

Mephisto came in after him, sliding the door shut again, and Shiro cleared his throat as Mephisto took a seat.

"I assume you've all been told why we've gathered in this manner?" He saw agreement in the expectant faces of his audience (or bored, in Shura's case), so he continued. "I noticed something was wrong with the Vatican - it started when they ordered Rin's execution, after promising to give him a trial period.

"Furthermore, they put me on probation shortly thereafter, citing conspiracy and treason - which, I will admit, had some grain of truth to them, except for the fact that my gamble has, so far, turned out to be somewhat successful.

"Through this and several other inconsistencies, including the declaration of war by the Illuminati as well as the order of my execution, I believe that the Grigori has been replaced by Illuminati agents or sycophants."

He surveyed the group. Shura had finally stopped inspecting her nails and was actively listening; good. The others, of course, had been paying close attention since the beginning. When his gaze fell on Light, however, he got a bit of a surprise. The younger man was standing to speak, and Shiro gestured for him to proceed.

"I would like to add something. When Fujimoto-san told us about this, we were, understandingly, a bit skeptical. With that in mind, I did some investigating and realized that Fujimoto-san's suspicions were correct. I shared the evidence with Angel, who agrees."

He sat back down, leaving the audience's attention back with Shiro. He felt oddly gratified by Light's support.

"So - since the Grigori has, in effect, been compromised - what do we do about it? I mean, they haven't done too much out of the ordinary except for put you on probation and go after the demon boy," one of the exorcists Shiro wasn't familiar with pointed out.

"First and most importantly - information gathering. We need to know the extent of the infiltration. We'll leave it alone as long as we can - we don't want to tip our hand too early, though with Mephisto under suspicion that might become difficult. If worst comes to worst, we'll storm the Vatican."

"That is an ambitious plan," Hojou said.

"Well, if we take our assets into account - we have the Paladin and two ArcKnights, a demon king, and an entire branch of the Exorcist order working to undermine the Grigori. Now, I will have to caution you: be careful what you share outside of this room. We do _not_ need the Grigori's suspicion on all the rest of you.

"Oh, and Angel - they will most likely choose you as the next Paladin - you do have a rather, er, how do I put this…" Shiro said, hesitating over his words.

"You're easily manipulated," Light interjected plainly, much to everyone else's amusement. Angel's outburst was easily predictable.

"Calm down, Angel," Shiro said. "That just means you can spy on them, see what they're doing, and report back. Okay?"

"Yeah, whatever. Sounds good."

* * *

Iblis was worried. He'd been hearing some odd rumors - something about Lucifer finally declaring war on the exorcists. These rumors did pop up from time to time, and usually it wasn't such a big deal, but this time the rumors included something else. Or rather, someone else.

He'd heard them say that Rin was working with Lucifer.

At first he'd dismissed it. A lot of the rumors had no credence. There were, unfortunately, always those demons who liked to disseminate false information in exchange for money. But then he'd decided to talk with Thaziel.

He tracked down Thaziel's quarters and knocked on the door. He waited a moment, then opened it, having met the politeness requirement by knocking on the door. With just a glance, the room seemed empty - there was no sign of Thaziel anywhere. He poked around, looking under the Spartan bed, in the closet - also strangely empty - and even under the small round table in the corner of the room.

"What's going on…?" He mused aloud. He was certain he'd gotten the right room; Thaziel's scent still hung in their air, though much fainter than he would have expected. "Did he leave, too?"

"Excuse me, sir," he heard, and turned to see a rather small demon approaching.

"Oh! Lord Iblis! I apologize for any rudeness - may I help you with anything, my lord?"

Iblis shook his head, then stopped - maybe the little guy knew where Thaziel had gone? "Hey - what's your name, anyway?"

"I am called Karruk, my lord."

"Well, Karruk, I have a question for you," he said. "Do you know where the previous resident of these rooms has gone?"

The small demon looked at him with trepidation, and Iblis narrowed his eyes, beginning to suspect foul play. "Or what happened to him?"

"My - my lord," Karruk said softly. "Lord Thaziel was taken by Lord King Satan for allowing Prince Rin to be captured by the exorcists. I believe he has since been… executed."

Thaziel was… _dead_?

It was fantastical, but he could believe it easily. He could easily imagine Father doing such a thing, needing a scapegoat on which to unleash his rage. Iblis didn't doubt that Thaziel's death had been extremely drawn-out and painful.

He noticed with a start that the small demon was still looking at him in concern. "Ah, thank you, Karruk."

He left the room, lost in though, and headed out of the castle. If Rin ever heard of Thaziel's death… Iblis almost didn't want to know how his little brother would react. Sure, he was half human - but his demon half was concentrated, potent demonic energy, and he was almost positive he would go berserk. And that was something Iblis didn't really want to see, both for Rin's sake and for the sake of anyone who got in his way. But then again, that could be exactly what they needed…

He staggered as a small female nekomata decided to make herself at home on his left shoulder.

"Hello," she said conversationally.

"Hi," he said back, noting the informal tone she was using and replying in kind.

"I have a message for you. From Rin," she said, and Iblis almost cursed. He'd started communicating _now_?

"Go ahead."

"He says that Lucifer is planning to invade Gehenna with a small army of exorcists to defeat Satan, and to start gathering followers. And to play along for now."

"Great, thanks," Iblis said. The nekomata disappeared somewhere and he sighed. Just another thing he was going to have to deal with.

* * *

 **AN: I don't know why I did the slash in between the A and the N. I'm going to stop doing that.**

 **Also: It will time-skip to the invasion of Gehenna and/or the storming of the Vatican next chapter, so stay tuned!**

 **Plus: Updates might be a little more frequent, as my semester has _finally_ ended.**


	24. Chapter 24: Attack on Satan

**Disclaimer: I don't own Blue Exorcist.**

* * *

"You're going?" Rin asked as he caught sight of Shima's distinctive pink hair. Shima sat down next to him, a nervous smile on his face.

"Yeah… apparently, this is more important than spying on Mephisto, so… here I am," Shima responded in a somewhat self-deprecating manner.

Rin laughed mirthlessly. "Lucifer is crazy, you know? Brilliant, but crazy. I can't believe it's finally time - we spent _months_ preparing for this."

"Well, fighting a war does make a lot of paperwork, I guess, especially when it's against the King of Demons."

They both fell silent again. Rin was, like Shima, nervous, but he was excited as well. Maybe excited wasn't the right word, but he didn't know how exactly to describe it. He would see Iblis again! And Thaziel! He hadn't been able to communicate with Thaziel because he couldn't very well ask Fuku to deliver so many messages, and summoning more demons just increased the risk of an information leak. So he'd had to choose, and Iblis had political influence that Thaziel did not.

It worked out, though - they were going back to Gehenna, and it didn't matter if his Father realized he'd betrayed him, then, as the very reason they were going to Gehenna was to destroy him. If Satan tried to punish him for leaving, he would first have to make his way through an entire army, as well as Lucifer and Iblis and whatever allies he had gathered. From what little Iblis had been able to tell him via Fuku, he had succeeded in bribing Amaimon, and so the demonic forces willing to aid in the attack on Satan consisted of the majority of Iblis and Amaimon's kingdoms, as well as a scattering from Samael's and Azazel's.

And speaking of communication…

He called up Fuku, who appeared promptly and, as was now customary for her, laid across the top of his shoulders.

"Hello, Fuku," he said, pulling out a small bottle of sake. "I'm sorry I don't have fish at the moment, but I have a little more sake this time - and I promise I'll treat you to some really nice stuff once this is over."

"…okay."

"Can you tell Iblis we are moving out? Right now we're just in headquarters, but I think Lucifer is planning for us to enter Gehenna in a couple hours."

"…okay."

"Thanks, Fuku."

"Of course," she replied, then disappeared. Rin looked over at Shima.

"Don't you have someone to tell, too?" He asked, and Shima pretended to look innocent.

"No idea what you're talking about," he replied, lying quite obviously. Of course, they both knew the other was a spy, so it was more of a joke between them than anything else. In a place full of enemies, they needed all the levity they could get.

"Oh, come one, you don't think Samael would want to know? Isn't he planning to overthrow the Grigori?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll tell him." He pulled a small notebook and a pen from his pocket and started writing. Rin raised an eyebrow but didn't comment; it seemed Samael's abilities were more diverse than he had assumed.

* * *

"Ah, excellent," Mephisto said, startling Shiro out of his thoughts. "Young Shima has just informed me that Lucifer's attack will occur very soon, at approximately 17:00 hours."

"Five pm? That only gives us eight hours to get everyone assembled…" Shiro muttered.

"My keys can take care of the transit. All our allies were kitted out just a week ago. They have all already been informed to stay on alert," Mephisto replied smoothly. "We have no need to worry, so just relax."

"But Angel and Light - !"

"They are already at the Vatican and I will notify them shortly of the upcoming conflict."

Oh. Well, that was most of the problems dealt with already. He really just had to worry about notifying Shura and Yukio as well as mobilizing the rest of the Japan branch. That would be a pain, but there wasn't much he could do about it besides get it done.

* * *

"You need to make sure everyone is organized," Lucifer rasped, his voice pitifully weak. Rin winced at hearing it; it was painful just to hear. And to think the rest of his body was the same way. Losing the Gedouin - and therefore most of the research for the immortality serum - had really done a number on him. Maybe that was why he'd pushed up his plans to invade Gehenna. Rin knew he wouldn't have been able to stand being so helpless, even if he did have a veritable army of lackeys to help him. It would just be humiliating to the extreme.

No matter. As soon as they got into Gehenna, Lucifer would be able to shed his host shell and he'd be as strong as ever. Rin hoped he wouldn't have to fight him; he already had enough to worry about with just trying to defeat Satan.

The lady - Rin could never remember her name, but everyone called her Guard Commander anyways - nodded sharply at Lucifer's orders. They were heading out in batches, having all been moved to the compound with the artificial Gehenna Gate. The flight had been terrible, but they'd been given several days to recover and relax so morale was at a decent level. And now they were finally invading.

"Yo, Lucifer - which group do you want me to go with?" He asked, in the most irritating tone he could manage. It was really fun to annoy the commander lady. Lucifer just rolled his eyes before replying.

"Last group, make sure everyone's come through. Meet up with me and Iblis - we'll be at the entrance to the ninth circle."

"Sure thing," Rin said, nodding. It was lucky that Lucifer's kingdom made up the eighth circle; it saved them a lot of travel between the various levels of Gehenna, which would _very_ quickly drain morale. It would mean a boring wait for him, though - there were at least a million members, eighty percent of which were combatants, and the Gehenna gate could only take about sixty thousand people every hour. That meant they would have around fifteen hours of waiting time before everyone made it through. He sighed but went to find a comfortable place to take a nap. He'd made it over a year without seeing Iblis or Thaziel; he could wait a few more hours.

* * *

His watch beeped.

Rin cracked open an eye and glared at his wrist balefully. It had been a nice nap. The watch would pay for waking him up - but later. After he'd shuffled the last of the soldiers through the gate.

He stretched and yawned, then snapped his jaws shut and curled his lip, exposing pointed canines in a feral grin. Satan wouldn't know what had hit him by the time they were through. Feeling much more awake, he got up and meandered towards the gate to watch the procession. The line of people stretched nearly a hundred meters - but at the rate they were walking, they would all be through in less than ten minutes and he could enter as well.

The line was about eighty meters, now - then fifty - twenty - five - and the last one of them entered the gate. It was finally his turn.

He walked through, shuddering at the familiar feel of the gate - cold, and almost sticky, it smelled bad too - and entered Gehenna. He took a deep breath. The air smelled the same as always - stale and slightly sulfurous. The light, as usual, took on a red tint, and the sky obscured by heavy, low clouds of what might be water vapor or just the usual smoky haze. Home sweet home.

He looked around, trying to spot a bright blonde or flaming orange head, then realized it was Gehenna and he should just be able to sense them - after all, here Lucifer and Iblis wouldn't have a shell to mask their demonic energies.

They were relatively close. Maybe a ten-minute walk. He traveled through the camp, reveling in the feel of demonic energy brimming up inside him; Assiah was a much nicer place but he would easily admit he had missed the feeling of power Gehenna had provided. He noticed the tents as he walked. They were a light gray; some marked with red pluses, some blank. The red plus was for the medical supplies; the blank probably rations and such, maybe weapons.

The next tent was a bright white and much bigger than the others around it, obviously the commander's tent. He walked in - yep; along with several demons he didn't know, there were Iblis, Amaimon, surprisingly, and Lucifer, looking much more physically imposing and more handsome, he figured, because the commander-lady was there too and she was practically drooling.

He laughed at her expression and everyone's heads simultaneously swiveled to look at him.

"Rin!" Iblis exclaimed, coming over and sticking his hand on top of his head. "Skies above, you're tall now."

Rin was surprised as he noted that yes, he had grown - his eyes were level with Iblis's as opposed to stuck around chin-level. That was new.

"Hi brother," Amaimon said dully. He cheered up marginally when Rin handed him a lollipop he'd nicked from Shima and patted his arm a couple times. Not really unexpected - or rather, he'd gotten rather used to Amaimon's peculiarities and had resigned himself to constantly being surprised by him.

Iblis was grinning like a fool, his hair spitting sparks like it always did when he got excited about something. Rin was exceptionally glad that his hair didn't usually flame like Iblis's.

"Nice to see you up and about, Lucifer," he said. Lucifer nodded, apparently also amused by his odd interaction with Amaimon. And maybe Iblis's obvious excitement.

"The hothead has been chattering about his 'baby brother' for hours now, whenever he could fit it in," Lucifer said. Rin grinned, despite the 'baby' crack. It was nice to see him again.

"So, how have things been going?" He asked, wanting to get up-to-date on the situation as soon as possible.

"We've already sent the advance troops in, a couple hours ago, actually, to clear the way of lesser demons and were planning to head in ourselves in just a few minutes, as soon as we caught you up," Iblis said.

"So are you ready?" Lucifer asked, and Rin grinned his bloodthirsty grin.

"An opportunity for carnage on a great scale? Of course I'm ready."

Lucifer huffed out a chuckle, leaving the tent closely followed by the commander-lady. Iblis caught him in a headlock and rubbed at his scalp, which was actually quite painful, as he grinned. "Nice to have you back, Rin."

"Nice to be back."

They exited the tent, leaving the rest of the demons alone with Amaimon - Rin wished them good luck - and went headed to the entrance of the ninth circle. It was a forbidding slope, broken up by treacherous stairs. It looked far worse than it really was. The stairs were actually quite firm and sticky, the sludge on them just appearing slick. He and Iblis followed Lucifer closely, and waited at the bottom until the rest of the Illuminati forces had made it down as well.

Fortunately, none of them fell off the stairs.

The advance party had done an excellent job clearing out most of the lower-level demons Satan had appointed as guards, and those that remained were easily dispatched.

They proceeded this way until reaching Satan's castle, at which point Lucifer allowed them a rest. The humans were grateful; having never before visited Gehenna, the atmosphere was physically draining, and a rest would only improve their energy and morale for the fight ahead, as it seemed Satan had made restricted most of his forces to the castle.

"Hey, Iblis," Rin asked, wanting to clear up something that had been on his mind ever since entering Gehenna. "Do you know where Thaziel is? I haven't sensed him with the rest of the troops, and I know he wouldn't miss this for anything."

Iblis tensed, just slightly, and Rin frowned. "Iblis. Where is he?"

Iblis took a deep breath, and Rin could practically see when he had decided to rip off the metaphorical bandage. "He's dead. Father killed him because you escaped."

Thaziel… was _dead?_ Everything seemed faraway, leaving that lone thought to establish itself in his mind.

 _Thaziel._ The one who had, at first, wanted to use Rin for his own goal to take down Satan - Rin wasn't dumb, he'd noticed Thaziel's indifference in the beginning. But then, later, the indifference had warmed, and Thaziel had viewed him as his own son as much as Rin had viewed him as a father.

Thaziel. The one who had saved him, had preserved his humanity in the awful, cruel world that was Gehenna. The one who had taught him to smile and laugh, even in the face of adversity.

Thaziel, whom Rin loved.

Was dead.

He couldn't tell if he was crying or not; the world had turned a hazy blue and any tears he could have shed boiled away before they fell.

Numbness gave way to rage, leaving only two thoughts: Thaziel was dead, and Satan was going to pay.

He drew his sword - the sword that Iblis and _Thaziel_ had gifted him, and ran in the direction of the castle, in the direction of Satan's throne. He would kill his father, and he would destroy his throne. If he had to, he would tear down the castle brick by brick.

* * *

Iblis didn't know what to do. Once Rin had heard about Thaziel's death, he'd gone completely berserk, even worse than what he had expected. He'd looked like… _Father_. Father in a rage, which was infinitely more disturbing than how he normally was. There was just nothing _but_ rage, and if he wasn't careful, it would consume him.

"Rin?" he said softly. Rin's face turned towards him, eyes blank and pupils ragged, irises rimmed in red. He made no sign of recognition. Iblis held his breath, and Rin turned again, this time setting eyes on the castle in front of them. He started forward, gaining speed with each step, until he was full-out sprinting, wreathed in blue fire.

It was both good and bad. They had what amounted to a demonic nuclear weapon on their hands, but as long as he was pointed towards their enemy they would succeed. It was necessary.

"I'm surprised," Lucifer said mildly. "That worked very well."

"You have to remember, Rin's still part human," Iblis reminded him. "His emotions give him strength."

"Indeed." There was a pause. "How long do you think it will take him to get to Father?"

"Not too long, I'd expect, but how long it will be before they both tone down the attacks a little will be a while longer. I don't know about you, but I don't feel like getting fried by Father's - or Rin's, for that matter - flames."

"Understandable. I will announce the lengthened break, and hopefully our brother will wear Father out. Human children often drive their parents to the point of exhaustion; Rin is no different," Lucifer pointed out.

Iblis smiled wryly at the comparison. "I guess."

* * *

The halls were familiar, polished black stone that reflected the blue sheen given off by Satan's lamps.

He raced through them, going straight to the center, where he knew Satan was - he'd sensed the heavy presence as soon as he entered the castle. He followed it easily; exploring every inch of the castle was one of the only ways to keep himself occupied when he was younger, besides lessons and training.

The doors to the room were closed. No matter, he sent a compacted ball of flame at them and they were torn from their hinges with an almighty screech. He stood there for a minute, breathing raggedly, staring at the seated figure in front of him.

"Hello, son."

"Did you kill Thaziel?" Rin asked, growling so deep his words were barely intelligible. His father frowned.

"You mean the demon that was supposed to be your caretaker? Of course I killed him, he let the exorcists take you. What else was I supposed to do?"

The blue haze, if it were possible, grew thicker, and Rin felt his teeth and nails lengthen further.

"Did you care for him… _my_ _son_?" Satan asked mockingly. Rin charged.

He roared, pulling his sword back for a strike, but Satan's flames suddenly flared up, so potent Rin nearly choked on the power. He swung down, hoping to at least do something, but Satan must have been wearing some sort of armor under his clothes because the sword angled away and thudded into the floor and snapped. Rin screamed hoarsely; that was one of the few things he had that Thaziel had given him. And now it was broken.

Satan's arm came back up and smashed against Rin's ribs. He wheezed, rolling with the motion and propped himself up on one knee as he recovered his breath.

He inhaled deeply - his ribs were, if not broken, then severely bruised - he'd have to play smarter. The pain did, however, clear away some of the haze clouding his thoughts. He'd forgotten just how strong Satan was; that was an area he wouldn't be able to beat him in. He was, however, smaller, more agile, and possibly a little faster.

Without Thaziel's sword - the reminder was so painful he could barely _breathe_ \- he had only the Koumaken and his knives, also a gift from Thaziel. His knives, however much he wanted to prevent damage to them, now, were his best bet - they were lighter and more versatile than the Koumaken, which would only confine him to certain attack patterns.

He lit up his knives and charged. He feinted a strike at Satan's head and his father's arm came up to block it. Rin ducked under and slashed at his ribs. Satan hadn't been expecting it and Rin looked back - he'd backed away after striking - to see a long, thin gash weeping blood. Rin smiled grimly, a bit surprised at the extent of the damage, but it seemed as if Satan had greatly underestimated him. The look on his father's face alerted Rin that that particular advantage had now disappeared.

He'd just have to fight harder then.

Satan's expression was thunderous, and only grew more so when Rin grinned defiantly at him, wiping sweat off his forehead before it dripped into his eyes. Flames flared around him, filling nearly the whole room - Rin had to flare his, as well, channeling it into his body and the air around him, to keep the pressure at bay.

But he was still faster.

Though Satan's hits were stronger, for every hit he landed, Rin landed two more. Satan's strikes broke bones, Rin's sliced through skin and muscle.

They paused, each to catch their breath and catalogue injuries. Rin had at least a broken nose and arm - his left elbow was at a funny angle and he could barely keep hold of his knife. He could tell several of his ribs were broken, and based on the wet feeling of his wheezing one of them had most likely punctured a lung. His flames wouldn't let him bleed out, but if it kept up for too much longer he'd end up dead.

Satan didn't look that much better, to Rin's satisfaction. In addition to the gash across half his torso, Satan had multiple lacerations decorating his arms, some shallow but some much deeper. There were several more on his torso, none quite as severe as the first, and even a shallow slice above his left eye.

Rin coughed, drawing in a shuddering inhale; blood misted the front of his shirt. A punctured lung indeed, then. He supposed it was fortunate that Satan's aura had receded into a space so it was just wreathing his body, as Rin was nearing exhaustion. His flames were barely keeping him mobile.

For once, Satan was the one to start the exchange, catching Rin off guard and knocking the knife from his right hand. Seeing as how his left was practically useless anyway, he dropped the knife in that hand and leapt back, giving himself enough space and time to pull out the Koumaken. With it came a brief rush of energy, just enough to try another strike.

He connected, the sword biting deep into Satan's left shoulder - but the sword hit bone, throwing Rin off balance and allowing Satan to grab him by his hair and shirt and throw him at the wall.

The last thing Rin saw before he blacked out was his father's murderous smile.

* * *

They hadn't heard a _really_ massive crash in about three minutes, so Iblis figured it was safe enough to enter the wing of the castle that held the throne room.

"Lucifer, we should go now," he said lowly, urgently.

"I agree."

The two of them headed off, Amaimon having apparently joined the rest of the soldiers (he always was an impatient little brat), and raced towards the throne room.

He amended his thought moments later; the wing that had _previously_ held the throne room - it appeared to have undergone a bit of remodeling. It really wasn't just a room anymore, as several of the walls had collapsed and what had previously been the throne was just a heap of rubble. A heap of rubble on which Rin was lying limply - _was he dead? No, his chest was still rising, ever so slightly_ \- towards which Satan was limping triumphantly, holding an unfamiliar blade.

"Father," Lucifer said, and Satan turned.

"Ah, my dear boys, have you come to join me in _punishing_ this young upstart?" He sounded unhinged, much more so than he usually let on. "I can do it with the boy's own heart, even!"

Iblis growled as he finally recognized the blade - the Koumaken, the sword that had been connected to Rin's heart and served as the keys to his demonic power in Assiah. Rin didn't normally use that sword - exposing his heart was dangerous, it left him extremely vulnerable. The only reason he would be using that sword was if -

A glint of steel caught his eye, and he noticed the jagged tip of a snapped blade protruding from the floor. The hilt was close, and this blade Iblis recognized immediately as the one he and Thaziel had gifted to Rin. But he'd still have had his knives - and then Iblis saw those, too; one lying on the ground behind Satan and one at the base of the destroyed throne.

Angry did not even _begin_ to cover what he was feeling at the moment, but Lucifer was much more rational.

"On the contrary, Father, we've not come to fight for you, but against you," Lucifer responded coolly.

Satan fully turned around, exposing the wounds Rin had gifted him and Iblis was impressed. Their father had two major wounds, one across nearly his entire torso and another in his shoulder, not to mention the dozens of smaller wounds lacing his arms and the cut on his face. He'd been limping, too - it was amazing that Rin had managed to inflict so much damage in so little time. Rin couldn't be in any sort of good shape, though, so he and Lucifer had to finish this quickly.

"Let's go, Lucifer," he growled, and Lucifer nodded. They advanced in tandem, knowing exactly where and how to strike so they wouldn't get in each other's way, the decades of practice they'd had fighting together or against each other showing in their polished moves.

Despite his many injuries, Satan was still strong, his flames more potent than ever before.

"You've betrayed me as well, now? You, Iblis? And Lucifer?" Iblis kept his expression hard and answered only with another attack.

Satan's flames flared and he counter-attacked. He blasted through Lucifer's defense, negating his powers with his flame, and delivered a heavy blow to his face, the force of which smashed him into the wall. Iblis inhaled sharply; how had Rin managed to survive on his own for so long? Satan turned towards him and laughed.

"Oh, Iblis, where did I go wrong with you? I patiently tolerated your disgusting fascination with the humans, but now you've come to kill me…" He frowned mockingly. "I guess I'll just have to KILL YOU FIRST!"

Iblis dodged his next attack in a rather spectacular manner: by tripping over his own feet. But it worked, and left Satan open (as his madness seemed to be affecting his fighting strategy), and Iblis attacked, throwing a flimsy canister of holy water he'd nicked earlier at his head.

It was a dangerous move - had he or Iblis been too close and inhaled any of the mist, they'd have been taken out of commission immediately - but as it was Satan was far enough away from the both of them that it wouldn't affect them. As it was, the capsule burst as soon as it hit, the water inside drenching his head and shoulders and trickling down into his open wounds. Satan howled, the noise a promise of blood and death.

In less than a second Satan had appeared next to him, foot back in preparation for a kick. Iblis scrambled back, but not fast enough; the foot connected with his ribs and he went flying. He crashed into the ground, the polished stone cracking under the impact. He lay there for a moment, wheezing, then groaned and pulled himself up.

Lucifer had gotten back up as well, most likely when he'd distracted Satan with the water bomb. His face was a bloody mess - almost as bad as Satan's, which because of the holy water was burnt red-raw and steaming. His wounds had started bleeding again, as well, the holy water had dissolved the coagulating blood and was preventing them from closing up again.

All three of them - well, four, really if you counted Rin - were a right mess.

* * *

There was not a single spot on his body that didn't hurt. It didn't help that he was lying on a pile of rubble, either.

He heard crashes, grunts, yells - somebody else was fighting Satan, then. He cracked open his eyes. His vision was blurry, but he could make out two figures engaged in combat - one was obviously Satan, the other was Lucifer - and Iblis was standing in the background, arm over his torso.

His vision cleared a bit - Lucifer and looked bad, but Satan looked _terrible_ \- and he turned his head. One of his knives had somehow made its way to the base of the destroyed throne, which was what the pile of rubble he was lying on most likely was.

He didn't think any of the others had caught his small motion until he met Iblis's gaze. His brothers eyes widened, and Rin brought a finger up to his lips in a painful ' _shush_ ' gesture. Iblis's eyes narrowed again, and Rin pointed to the knife, then Satan, watching Iblis the entire time. He gave a small nod, then went to back up Lucifer. Iblis had gotten the message, good.

Rin sat up slowly, trying to minimize both the pain and the noise. He was successful at the latter, but not so much the first. His ribs and arm were the most painful. The ribs would have to wait, but he could fix his arm. He pulled on his hand and nearly passed out again as he felt the edges of the bone snap back in place. He took several deep breaths, then channeled a little flame to the area, just enough to stimulate regrowth and strengthen the area a little. His punctured lung and broken ribs he couldn't do much about, except for make sure there was enough flame energy going to slow the bleeding and prevent his lungs from filling with blood.

He picked up his knife and tested his grip. Strong enough. He stood slowly, swaying a bit when his vision went blurry, but managed to stay upright.

He could see that Lucifer and Iblis were slowly driving Satan towards him, careful to keep his attention on them so he wouldn't realize Rin was still able to fight.

He winced at Iblis went flying again and didn't get back up. Rin watched carefully; his chest was still rising and falling, good. That left Lucifer alone, though, but he was tenaciously hanging on to consciousness and didn't look like he would last much longer, but Satan was almost within striking range.

Satan roared, flaring his flames and pushing Lucifer back. "You think you can defeat me? You are all just _children!_ _Bow_ to me, _my son_! I am your father! I am - "

Rin tackled him, jumping on his back.

"You are dead," he growled, and cut his throat.

* * *

 **AN: So, this chapter kind of ran away from me. It got a lot longer and a bit darker than I was initially expecting, but…** ***shrugs*. What can you do?**

 **Also: early chapter, yay!**

 **Also: Does anyone else think the title is clever, or just me?**


	25. Chapter 25: Coup

**Disclaimer: I don't own Blue Exorcist.**

* * *

Rin dropped to the floor in exhaustion. He couldn't believe it. Satan was dead.

 _Satan_ was _dead._

"That was for Thaziel," he announced emptily.

Lucifer staggered towards him and held out a hand. "Good job, Rin," he said, weariness echoing in his voice. "Let's go wake up Iblis."

"Yeah." He allowed himself to be helped up and walked limped over to where Iblis was passed out on the ground. Rin poked his shoulder. "Iblis, wake up."

No response. He shook him a little, this time. "Wake up, Iblis. Come on!"

Iblis groaned. "Quit shaking me, Rin, I'm awake."

"Good." Rin looked around. He only currently was in possession of one of his knives - he still had to find the other, as well as the Koumaken. And there was no way he was leaving without picking up the pieces of the blade Thaziel had gifted him.

He wiped the knife of his pants and sheathed it. He walked over to and picked up the Koumaken, cleaning it and re-sealing it as well. He looked around for his other knife but didn't see it; only when Lucifer had turned around did he realize where it was.

In one hand Lucifer held his second knife; in the other was Satan's decapitated head.

"Lucifer!"

His brother rose and turned the knife around, offering it handle-first to Rin. "I had to make certain he was dead, Rin, you understand."

He did, but that didn't mean he didn't find it utterly repulsive. And the other demons of Satan's army would require proof of their leader's demise before they accepted the authority of anyone else.

He took the knife from Satan and wiped it off, sheathing it. All that was left was to pick up the pieces of his broken blade, which he did with great care. He joined Iblis and Lucifer at the destroyed entrance to the room and they went outside, heads held high - including Satan's. The demons who had been a part of his army stopped fighting when they saw it, acknowledging Lucifer as their new leader. Out of all of them, he was probably the least injured but looked the worst, as his face was a bloody mess.

They paraded through the castle, keeping up a façade of strength, but the truth of it was they _had_ defeated Satan, and as such one of them would be the new ruler of Gehenna.

For now, though, they were taking a roundabout route back to the Illuminati base for medical attention. They were strong enough to stand, yes, but that didn't mean it wasn't painful. Rin still had a punctured lung, and his flames were running dangerously low. He wouldn't be able to stay on his feet for much longer.

Finally they reached it, and Rin smiled thinly in relief. He was ready to collapse, which he promptly did as soon as he reached an empty bed. Iblis sat down on the bed next to him, Lucifer one farther down, and a medic came in to see them.

"Lord Lucifer!" he exclaimed. "Lord Iblis, Prince Rin! If you will just wait a moment, we will attend your wounds in a moment."

Rin relaxed a bit into the cot; they would be by soon with pain meds. That was good. He watched tiredly as several other medics entered the room they were in, carrying all sorts of equipment with them. Two of them stopped by his cot.

"We're going to have to put you to sleep," one said. "You're going to have to have some surgery done."

"Sure," he agreed, and they stuck a needle in his arm and he blacked out.

* * *

His mouth tasted like something had crawled in it and died, before being charred to ashes. In other words, not good.

The rest of him felt better, though, the pervasive feeling of _ouch_ having faded to a dull ache. He looked down at himself - they'd propped him up slightly, probably to prevent him choking on his own blood - and saw they'd cleaned him up - a sponge bath, how embarrassing - and he was dressed in hospital pajamas. It was better than a gown, at least.

Bandages covered nearly his entire upper body, thick on his torso and a bit lighter on his arms, one of which was in a sling. His head was bandaged, too. But breathing barely hurt at all, and if he had to he'd be able to get up and walk around, especially since the prolonged unconsciousness had let some of his flames recover.

"Yo, Rin, finally up?" He heard. He looked over to see Iblis grinning at him from the next bed over.

 _A bed?_ Lucifer must have had them moved to a more permanent base in Gehenna, because they weren't in Assiah but they certainly weren't in the Illuminati camp either. It was probably Lucifer's original headquarters in his kingdom.

"I'm awake, yeah," he rasped. He cleared his throat. "How long was I out?"

"I think it's been over thirty hours now, you were pretty close to dead - "

"Thirty hours? Wow." He glanced around the room. "Where's Lucifer?"

"He's somewhere around, probably sorting things out. He didn't have any real wounds aside from a couple bruises and getting his face smashed in, but they fixed that up quick enough. It was a shame, though, I think I liked him better with a broken nose."

Rin couldn't help the small smile that made its way onto his face. It was nice that despite after everything that had happened the past few months, he and Iblis were able to crack jokes together. It was bittersweet, though; usually when he and Iblis were being ridiculous Thaziel was there as well, rolling his eyes in exasperation while smiling fondly all the while. But Thaziel wasn't there anymore. His smile faded and the conversation trailed off.

* * *

 _The day before_

"Yukio!"

Shiro hadn't seen his son all day, and the few times he had seen him over the last week were only for a short time, filled with terse discussions about the upcoming conflict.

His son, finally located in the throng of exorcists in the massive hall, turned around at his call. A small smile appeared on his face which seemed to lighten, if only temporarily, the invisible weight on his shoulders.

"Hey, Dad," Yukio greeted with a careful hug. "How are things going?"

Shiro ran a hand through his hair, making it stick up more than it usually did. It didn't matter, though - it wasn't like the Illuminati forces would leave him alone for nice hair.

"It's going all right, I guess. How're you holding up?" He asked. Ever since Rin had… left…

"I'm fine."

Shiro looked at him doubtfully but let the matter drop; Yukio would need to be level-headed for the impending coup and prodding him about Rin wouldn't be at all conducive to that.

The gathered exorcists quieted as Mephisto, standing on a wooden platform, rose into the air.

"My wonderful friends," he announced, dramatic as always. "The time has now come. We must take up our responsibility, and accept our duty to eradicate the corruption within the Vatican.

"Remember why you fight. For justice. For humanity. For truth." He paused, holding out his hands in a grand gesture.

"If you lose your life, you will be remembered as a hero who helped save the world." He paused again, just long enough for a hint of fear to start pervading the hall.

"But! As long as I fight by your side, I will try my utmost to save your lives! And I am sure that you all will do the same for those around you!"

"My my, what a pretty speech," Shiro muttered. Yukio rolled his eyes in agreement.

"And now - we FIGHT!"

The hall erupted in a rousing chorus of cheers as the massive set of double doors opened at the end of the hall. Shiro reflected with a dark amusement on the irony of it all - these particular doors had originally been built as an evacuation route in case of an attack on the Vatican. He wondered idly if the Grigori even knew that the portal went both directions - and then another thought struck him. Was it even a coincidence that it went both ways? If not, exactly how long had Mephisto been planning…?

He'd worry about it later. They had a more pressing engagement to worry about - the coup itself. With the combined forces of the Myouo Dharani and the Japan branch, they had just over five hundred exorcists, including himself - the Paladin - and two of the four ArcKnights, Light and Angel. They also had Mephisto, who while not effective in combat against large groups, could nonetheless indefinitely contain even the most powerful of foes and would be an asset. Depending on whether he chose to fight, of course.

They passed through the doorway in surprisingly organized platoons. Company one, led by Light, went to secure the living areas; the second, led by Angel, went to secure the storerooms which contained food and weapons, mostly. Companies three and four, led by himself and Mephisto, were in charge of actually marching through the administrative building to the courtroom, where they suspected the majority of the more intense fighting would be. Shiro was a bit worried, as that was the group both he and Yukio had ended up in. Finally, company five, led by Shura, went to secure the rest of the exits, of which there were only four; they'd have two platoons at each exit, which amounted to approximately twenty men.

As for the expected opposition - Dragulesc, to the best of his knowledge, was still in Romania. Redarm, though - the man was built like a bull and more stubborn than one. There was a good chance he was at the Vatican, fighting on the side of the false Grigori. It was almost certain that one of the companies would fight Redarm, and he hoped fervently that it wasn't company five, who didn't have an Arc Knight of their own.

The first company departed - five minutes later, the second company, and then his group. Third company went a couple minutes before, as they had to check every room for inhabitants, so they jogged at a leisurely pace through the administrative buildings. Whenever they'd find someone, which happened a bit less than they were expecting, the person would be handcuffed and left to the tender care of the fourth company, who would take them to a specific location and guard them. And possibly interrogate them a bit.

They'd made it through most of the building and were approaching the courtroom when the building shuddered slightly.

"Redarm's made contact with another company!" He exclaimed. They had to finish their mission, fast, just in case the other company needed assistance. Hopefully it was Angel's company, Light was more of a thinker than a fighter and against an opponent of that caliber it was better to have some brawn to back up the brain.

"Yes, thank you, Fujimoto-san," Mephisto said. "I do believe it's Angel's group." Shiro breathed a sigh of relief. They truly had the devil's luck. "Still, let's keep going."

They marched on, only encountering two more people before entering the courtroom. As soon as they opened the doors, an awful stench hit them like a brick wall - a potent combination of decaying corpses and sulfur; most commonly associated with dead bodies and Gehenna, respectively.

They entered cautiously - with the strength of the smell, it was possible that some demons were still lurking in the dark corners. They spread out around the edges of the room, making sure that at least the lower level was clear. Mephisto floated out into the center of the domed room, rotating slowly and occasionally going upside-down before righting himself again.

"No demons here!" He announced cheerily. "There were some, of course, but they're gone now. I did see something rather interesting on the balcony, though, you might want to go look at that."

Shiro hurried up to the balcony and stopped dead as soon as his brain had processed what he was seeing. It was the Grigori - every single member was sitting slumped over in their chairs or on the floor. He approached one - definitely dead - and lifted the hood. Shiro vaguely remembered his face; hadn't he retired as an active exorcist right around fifteen years ago? He walked along the balcony, checking all the faces as he went - some he recognized, some he didn't, but he was willing to bet that they were all the Grigori members that had previously been loyal to the exorcist order.

Had the false Grigori been sitting on the corpses the whole while? That would be _disgusting_ … and probably not the truth, as it brought up a few inconsistencies with the recordings Light had gotten.

No, what was more likely - and quite possible more disgusting, though not in such a physical sense - was that the Illuminati had been controlling the corpses of the Grigori. As long as people didn't get too close - which wasn't hard, as they usually just sat up on that balcony far from any physical contact - it would appear as if everything was normal. A genius plan - not easily discovered but very easy to pull off, with a fairly low risk.

One of the lower ranked exorcists approached him. "It seems that the room is empty, sir, aside from the awful stink."

"Got it." He stood and followed the man back to the ground floor.

"Our part of the building is secure," he said, loud enough that the entire company would be able to hear him. The fourth company arrived just a few minutes later, and he apprised the leader - he couldn't remember her name - of the situation. She assigned a squad of men to take the bodies away, in such a fashion that they'd be able to properly analyze them later.

"What say you, Mephisto?" He asked, knowing that the eccentric demon had come up behind him.

"It might be a good idea to check in with some of the other squads now, you know, see if they found anything." Another small shudder traveled through the building. "Or if they're dead."

"Thank you, Mephisto," he replied dryly. He didn't think they'd be dead, it seemed as if most of the Illuminati soldiers had left the Vatican for their planned invasion of Gehenna, leaving only the noncombatants behind with the exorcists under their control. And Angel was unlikely to let Redarm kill any of his company, so the majority of their forces should be alive and relatively unharmed.

He called Light on the Bluetooth - all the company leaders had gotten one - and he answered promptly.

"What's your status?" Shiro asked.

"We're all clear here," Light responded plainly.

"Good." He hung up and called Shura.

"How's your company holding up?"

"We're all good here, y'know. Quit worryin' so much, it'll give you gray hairs."

He sighed into the mic. "Thank you, Shura."

He took a bracing breath and called Angel. He heard grunt and a clashing noise; Angel was still fighting with Redarm, it would seem.

"Status?" Shiro asked brusquely. Better to be straightforward, it was much less distracting for Angel.

"Backup would be nice, Redarm's tough, and Yang just showed up." Shiro cursed under his breath; Lucy Yang was the oldest and possibly most dangerous of the Arc Knights.

"And the mission objective?"

"All other hostiles have been - " There was another clash. " - taken care of."

"Alright. I'm sending backup." He ended the call and looked around; who could he send to help fight against Redarm and Yang? Yang was a Tamer, but Redarm was more of a brawler, so Aria and Doctor were out. That left Dragoon, Knight, and Tamer. Tamer and Knight would be better in the high-speed, close combat fight against Redarm but Dragoon could very well be essential to defeat Yang. Not to mention the required skill level - to be able to even compete with the two the exorcists had to be at least an upper-class rank.

Hesse Barthes and Juuzou Shima were two that he knew were the requisite rank and meister. He wasn't familiar enough with the others in his group to assign them as backup - besides Yukio, of course, but he was still middle class.

Just two exorcists, however, was not enough. Three might do it, though, as long as he or Mephisto was one of the three. Mephisto was probably the better option; with his 'ultimate prison' he could contain one of the two until the other was defeated.

"Barthes, Shima!" He called, and the two men came up to him. "You two are going, along with Mephisto, to act as backup for company two, who has encountered both Osceola Redarm and Lucy Yang."

"Company two?" Shima sounded concerned. "My father's in that squad - is he okay?"

"He wouldn't know that," Barthes said. "We should just get there as soon as possible; we are their reinforcements, after all."

"Yeah, okay," Shima agreed, and the two of them took off running, Mephisto floating close behind.

* * *

 **AN: I realized when I was finished writing this chapter that Angel was never actually an ArcKnight… oops… let's just pretend there are five, one for each meister?**

 **It feels really good to have a buffer of completed chapters ^_^ even if it's a small one (as I get closer to the end - exciting! - I get more motivated to write… that's odd. It's also odd that I get most of my inspiration for this story during church…).**

 **I might start updating a little more frequently because I'm pretty motivated right now and have a bit of time on my hands.**


	26. Chapter 26: Victory

**Disclaimer: I don't own Blue Exorcist.**

* * *

It was all finally starting to come to a close. The Vatican was now completely secure - the three he sent having been the final nail in the coffin against Redarm and Yang. The fourth company had managed to detain all the exorcists and Illuminati members they'd found in secure cells of the Japan headquarters - they'd gone around to the other companies' areas and collected their prisoners once they'd ferried all the prisoners from the administrative part of the building.

They had succeeded spectacularly. There were injuries, of course, but most were minor. The worst one was Juuzou Shima - he'd broken several ribs and a leg, but Shiro had been informed that he would be fine in time.

The thing was - it had been easy. Almost _too_ easy. There was just something that kept him on edge. Maybe it was the suspicious lack of Illuminati personnel - though that could be explained by the manpower they would need in their own coup against Satan. They also had their own headquarters, which, arguably, would be more important to keep safe than the Vatican.

They knew the general location of the Illuminati's headquarters, thanks to the youngest Shima; their base was somewhere in southern Germany. And that would probably become their next target.

However, setup for the operation would take weeks - they would try to get it done as quickly as possible, because it would be in their benefit to take the base before Lucifer returned from Gehenna. But there was also the matter of reforming the exorcist order, informing the high-ups (what remained of them) and the ArcKnights and so on about the change in leadership and the truth of the matter.

Doing that in so little time was going to be a serious challenge.

* * *

"It's been _forever_ ," Rin complained, fidgeting in his bed.

"It's been less than a week, Rin," Iblis responded dryly, having gotten tired of his complaints by the end of the first day.

"But I'm bored!"

"That's unfortunate." Any sympathy he had had dried up along with his patience. Luckily, he had only one more day of complaining to endure before he was to be released; Rin would get out after another three. "You should have thought of that before you went to tackle Satan on your own."

Rin quieted, finally, and turned over in his bed. Iblis winced as he realized the absence of tact in his previous statement; the reason Rin had rushed off as he had was because he'd learned of Thaziel's death. Iblis tried to think of something to cheer him up, but nothing came. "Sorry," he apologized quietly. Rin didn't reply. Maybe a distraction tactic would help?

"What are your plans for after you're released?" He asked, genuinely curious. All he'd heard from Rin via Fuku was plans for the coup, not anything about what plans were after. "Are you going back to Assiah?"

Rin shifted so he was lying on his back. He was silent, and for a moment Iblis was wondering whether Rin would actually answer the question.

"Lucifer."

Iblis was glad Rin had answered, but his minimal response was rather confusing. "Excuse me?"

"He's crazy and thinks that Assiah and Gehenna should be combined. Of course, that means that Assiah will be ruined, and I can't accept that. The exorcists - well, Samael really - have come up with a plan to defeat him. I'm going to go help them."

Iblis just blinked; too shocked by Rin's sudden explanation to do much more. And then he found his voice again.

"Are you insane? You just almost _died!_ You think that fighting Lucifer is going to be easy just because Father was defeated? I hate to strip away your arrogance, but the only reason Satan is dead now is because the three of us worked together to take him down. Are you going to throw your life away? Just because he _might_ do something you don't like?"

Rin's face darkened. "You don't know the situation, Iblis. Lucifer had the exorcists order my execution just to try to make me join him. He didn't care whether I lived or died, not really; he just wanted me to help defeat Father. It would be better for him if I died right now: I'm the only thing standing in the way of the throne."

"If that's true, then why are you here, getting taken care of?" It was a hole in Rin's argument, one he was willing to exploit in order to stop his brother from what amounted to suicide. However strong Rin was, he wasn't yet strong enough to face Lucifer on his own, especially as injured as he was. Iblis pinched the bridge of his nose. "Just stay until you're healed, okay, Rin?"

"…Fine."

It was another week until Rin was mobile, and a week after that he was judged sufficiently healed. Iblis didn't know who was more relieved at that point; him, the nurses, or Rin. He would have liked to say it was from goodwill on the part of him and the nurses, but it really wasn't; Rin was a holy terror when bored. And a week of bedrest and another week after that confined to Lucifer's palace had exacerbated Rin's boredom to the point where he was making his misery known to everyone around him. The palace staff were lucky: they could walk away under pretext of having another task to take care of. Iblis and the recovery staff, not so much.

It was at the end of that second week that Lucifer came and visited them.

"I hear you've been giving my staff a hard time, Rin," he said, managing to sound somewhat amused and reproachful at the same time. Iblis imagined it was what a parent would sound like scolding a child and almost laughed aloud - he managed to stifle it, but Lucifer still sent him a suspicious glance.

"I haven't been trying to, but I just got really bored, and Thaziel always used to say - " Rin's breath caught. "He used to say that I was worse than a nightmare colt when I get bored."

"Well, it sounds like he was a smart one. I would have liked to meet him." What was Lucifer doing? Was he trying to get Rin to like him? Why? More importantly, was it succeeding? "All that aside, I've come because I'm returning to Gehenna within the week, and I would be very much pleased if you were to accompany me, Rin."

"Great, sure," Rin said. Iblis didn't understand why, really - Rin was smart enough that he had to have noticed Lucifer's attempts at kindness were rather transparent. He wouldn't fall for such manipulation. But then again, Rin's human brother was still in Assiah, and after losing Thaziel he would want to make sure no harm came to the kid. Iblis supposed he could hold off the matter of succession for at least as long as it would take them to sort things out in Assiah; the news of Satan's defeat was still disseminating throughout Gehenna. The other kings wouldn't be able to do anything about it until Rin was back anyways, as he was technically the one to kill Father.

"I'll stay and sort things here," he offered, as though Lucifer wasn't going to suggest it anyways. Lucifer smiled thinly.

"Yes, good idea, Iblis. I will leave things here in your… _capable_ hands." And with that not-so-subtle dig, he left, taking the tense atmosphere with him.

"Well, that was interesting," Rin said bemusedly. "See you, Iblis. Don't let Gehenna get destroyed until I get back, okay?"

"Sure thing, Rin," he assured his youngest brother. "Sure thing."

* * *

Rin slumped against the wall, exhausted. It wasn't so much physical - his body's recovery had ensured getting a full night's sleep every night - but more mental, and if he dared to admit it, emotional. He put on a brave face every day - well, more like obnoxious, he thought with a weary smile. The nurses had practically been begging for him to finally be released and Rin wondered what Thaziel would have had to say about that.

Rin eyed his bed from his position on the floor, propped up against the wall. He'd come to his room, the room he'd stayed in during his years in Gehenna. It was a miracle it hadn't been more damaged from the coup, as it was relatively close to the throne room, which had been almost completely destroyed.

He pushed himself up and walked over to his bed, falling onto it without removing his boots or knives. The point of the scabbard on his thigh was digging into his leg, but he didn't have the energy nor did he care enough to remove it. It was still more comfortable than sitting on the stone floor.

He wanted to take a nap. But his body wouldn't let him, brimming with energy as it was, a result of being back in Gehenna. It wasn't unlike being at sea-level after living at a high altitude; his body was overfull with energy but he still didn't want to do anything. He'd burned some of it off through his recovery, and later by irritating the nurses. Mostly he'd just been trying to distract himself from everything that had happened but now he was alone and his thoughts were starting to crowd back in.

What was weighing most on his was Lucifer's obvious approval of his murder of Satan. It wasn't so much that he regretted killing him; Satan had done awful things against both the inhabitants of Assiah and his fellow demons for millennia. It wasn't wrong that he'd killed him. That didn't change the fact that he was still his father. Rin thought he should feel at least a little guilt, but the only emotions stirred when he thought about Satan was a dull hate and slight disgust.

Thaziel, on the other hand… there was a sharp pain in his hand, and he realized he'd grasped one of the smaller shards of the broken sword he kept in his pocket. He raised his hand to inspect it; the cut wasn't more than an inch or two long but it still hurt so he healed in anyways. Might as well eliminate what pain he could. However saturated in demonic power he was there in Gehenna, he still couldn't heal sadness. Or emptiness, which wasn't really sadness but that was how he felt anyways.

So he'd follow Lucifer to Assiah for a while. Maybe that would help. First, though - his eyelids were starting to grow heavy. It was time for a nap.

* * *

When he and Lucifer approached the Gehenna gate they had arrived through, it had been gone, and they figured the exorcists (most likely with Samael's assistance) had managed to destroy it. So Rin was creating one.

"We're going back to the base in Germany, Rin, so make sure your Gate is calibrated properly before you go through. I don't want to end up fighting Gedouin's zombies again, and I doubt you'd want to either."

"You're not wrong," Rin agreed. He was lost in thought, planning rather, speculating how things would turn out. Rin wasn't going to stay with Lucifer long once they got back to Assiah; the reason he had done so in the first place was to have backup when he finally tackled Satan. Now that Satan was defeated, there was no real reason for him to stay with the Illuminati - and truth be told, despite Lucifer's rather likable personality, Rin didn't want to stay with him. Whenever he looked at Lucifer, it brought to mind the image of him dirty, bloodied, holding up Satan's severed head. It made Rin wonder if that's how Thaziel died - and then logic took over and informed him it was probably much more painful than that.

He looked over the symbols chalked onto the stone floor and nodded to himself. He stood, wincing as his knees popped - he was still young, but that didn't mean his body wouldn't protest at kneeling on a stone floor for hours on end. It was time to activate it. He grasped the metal shard in his pocket and drew it across his palm. The blood dripped onto the circle, causing to glow and faint blue, and the stone underneath started bubbling ominously.

It was always a little disturbing, watching the miniature heads that looked as if they were made of tar crying out like small children in pain. It was necessary, however, and Rin stepped into the bubbling mass and sunk through it into Assiah.

And immediately dodged as something flew towards his head.

"What the…!" His exclamation was cut off with a grunt as he dropped to the ground, the Gate quickly dissolving behind him. A canister of holy water burst right above him and he hissed in pain as it stung his unprotected skin - which, luckily, was only his hands and head. It still hurt.

He crawled away - best to keep down until he figured out what was going on - and when he reached a wall he stood with his back to it to survey the scene. It seemed as if the exorcists had found the base; not surprising with the combination of Samael's cunning and Shima's information. But now they had a bit of a mess on their hands… it was really just bad luck that Lucifer had arrived when he did.

A thought struck Rin and he felt the blood drain from his face. If the exorcists under were attacking the base, then was Yukio there too? He gritted his teeth and made his way to the entrance hall, where it seemed as if the most intense fighting was occurring, if the energy spikes from that direction meant anything.

He made his way there slowly - even though the people around him weren't amazingly strong, there were a lot of them, and he had to take care of them. He'd tried not to kill any of them, so it took him longer than he thought it would to make it to the entrance hall. He looked around desperately, hoping yet not expecting that his brother was somewhere else. Sure enough, he spotted a familiar face across the room and forced his way through over to his brother.

"Yukio!" He yelled, and his brother turned.

"Rin!" His eyes grew wide. "Duck!"

Rin dropped into a crouch and grimaced as he felt something splatter him from behind; he glanced back and saw what remained of a partially decomposed corpse. So much for not fighting Gedouin's zombies; the Illuminati members must have pulled out everything they could to try to fend off the exorcists.

"Thanks," Rin said. "How are things going?"

"They're okay, Mephisto's holding off Lucifer for now but I Dad's fighting Todou - the one who absorbed the demon at Kyoto, I think they're having a little trouble there."

Rin nodded, it was about what he had expected if they Illuminati and exorcists ever went head-to-head. Not that he'd expected it to happen so soon, of course, but life often failed to comply with expectations.

"All right, I'll head on over. You be careful, Yukio," he said, and for nostalgia's sake hugged his brother briefly. It was almost comfortable, despite the setting. "I mean it."

"I should be telling you that," Yukio responded, arching an eyebrow.

"Whatever." Rin turned to the other end of the hall where he could see a figure flying with wings of fire in combat with several others. The wings were kind of cool and Rin wondered briefly if he'd be able to do that when one of the exorcists was knocked back and hit the ground hard. He didn't get up. "That's my cue."

He ran to the other end of the hall, using bursts of flame occasionally to launch himself over particularly intense fights. He didn't have time to waste; with one of their men down the small group that had been fighting Todou was pressed to their limit. Rin built up speed and right as Todou was about to toss a fireball Rin crashed into him, knocking him out of the air.

They landed roughly, but Rin had managed to shove Todou under him and ended up somewhat upright with a knee on Todou's chest. Todou flared his flames, but Rin flared his as well, forcing Todou's down and reinforcing his own body. He punched Todou in the face solidly then jumped back to arm himself. In a second his knives were in his hands and crossed in front of him, blocking a truly massive straight sword - Angel's sword. He smiled grimly, toning his aura down, and angled his block so the sword would slip down and away and maybe get stuck in the ground. It would buy him enough time to explain. Or for Shiro to get them to back off.

"Shiro! A little help here!" He called, and Shiro shouldered past Angel, who was giving him and dirty look and working his sword free. Shiro stopped short and looked at him, then pulled him into a tight hug - Rin had to make sure he didn't accidentally skewer him.

"The prodigal son returns, eh?" One of the other fighters asked, scratching his head. "All the better, then, since Redarm's down."

"Yes! I'm not here to kill all of you," Rin assured, Shiro having let him go. "I can suppress Todou's flames with my own and give you openings."

"And why should I trust demon spawn?" Angel spat.

"Because you're hard-pressed to keep up with Todou and right now he's a mutual enemy. And he's going to be back up in seconds - the demon he fused with is a phoenix so in order for him to truly die his body needs to be obliterated and the ashes sprinkled with holy water. Very similar to a vampire." Rin glanced back at Todou. "And you have about ten seconds."

The dark-haired fighter grinned. "Can we keep him, Shiro?"

Shiro looked at Rin. "Let's fight."

Rin channeled his flames into his knives and bared his teeth, exposing his canines. He exhaled slowly, and met Todou's charge in a strong stance. His feet slid backwards until Rin was backed up against the wall - not the best position to be, but it gave the others a clear target. And that was the whole point of it, so he'd just have to try not to die. Which, admittedly, was rather difficult as the demon Todou had absorbed had been one of Iblis's lieutenants before things had settled down a few centuries ago.

Rin heard the distinctive pneumatic hiss of a holy water grenade and screwed his eyes shut, deciding in a split second that getting stabbed or bludgeoned by Todou was preferable to burning out and regrowing his eyes. And yes, it did hurt when Todou hit him, but not nearly as bad as Todou had been hurt - his wings of flame had burned off the back of his uniform, and the holy water had splashed all over his back, leaving rather horrific burns.

Rin took his chance and stabbed at Todou. He dodged, but thanks to the burns from the holy water it was only enough that the knife went into his shoulder instead of his heart. It was still a good hit, as it hindered the movement of that arm.

"No!" Todou yelled, and Rin ducked under his arm to regroup with Shiro and Angel and the other exorcist. "You can't - you won't - "

Todou inhaled but his torso kept swelling and eventually it was his whole body that was growing. His features shifted, too, making his whole body look like it was wax being melted and remolded. When he finally settled, he looked like a blend of the demon and a human - his face was vaguely human-shaped, but he had a beak and his eyes were slanted. Feathers covered his body; even his hair was more akin to a bird's crest than a human's hair. The most telling change, though, was the change in size - Todou had become several feet taller and not a little broader.

"Didn't see that coming," the dark-haired exorcist remarked lightly.

"I did," Rin answered grimly. He readied himself, knives up, and Todou once again charged at him. There was one thing about Todou's change in size - though he was far stronger than before, he wasn't quite as fast - the type of opponent that Rin had spent a lot of his childhood training against.

Todou was still fast, but Rin was faster - he dodged when Todou struck and slashed at him with his knives when he saw the chance. He kept Todou busy, drawing his attention to himself so Shiro and the other two could land strong hits on him from further away. Rin couldn't deny that the adrenaline was waking him up from the slump he'd been in; there was nothing like a good fight to get his blood up.

"Hey, demon - what's your name?" Rin grunted. "Actually - never mind - I don't need to know, why would I? There's no way Iblis would allow you back in his kingdom."

Todou roared with rage and Rin was mildly surprised that his plan was working. He'd heard that getting opponents angry clouded their mind (that was something Thaziel would drill into his head every time he lost his temper during a fight) but this was the first time he'd seen it work on an opponent.

"I am KARURA!" He yelled. Rin nodded. That sounded familiar. But the fact that the demon had answered meant that Todou was no longer in control.

"Well, Karuba," Rin said, "If you can beat me, one on one, I will consider you worthy of re-entering by brother's service. If not, I will inform him of your death and in that case I doubt he will remember you at all."

"I am worthy!" Karura bellowed. "I am the only one worthy of being Lord Iblis's lieutenant!"

"Then prove it!"

Karura flared his flames again, and a pillar of fire appeared, almost as hot and bright as Rin's. But blue snaked up the pillar, gradually overpowering the orange flame and forcing it into a large sphere. Rin was sweating; he'd never controlled his flames this way before and it was _hard._ He compressed the sphere, smaller and smaller, until it was the size of a baseball.

"Karura! You'll never be his lieutenant again!" He yelled. Karura roared, and Rin forced the ball into Karura's beak and let it go.

The explosion was immense, scattering unidentifiable pieces of… something across the room. Karura's body was flaming, this time a more natural shade of orange but it wasn't enough.

"Get some holy water on that!" Rin yelled, and sat down, exhausted. Angel took over then, all self-important, and Shiro came over to sit next to him.

"Good job, Rin," he said quietly - most of the other fighting had died down at the explosion but was starting to resume. "I'm proud of you."

Rin looked out at the hall, surveying it for Yukio and breathing a sigh of relief when he spotted Yukio taking a breather against the wall, another exorcist next to him keeping an eye out.

"And I know that Thaziel would have been proud of you, too."

Rin whipped his head back and stared at Shiro, whose eyes were bright but his jaw firm.

"Thanks," Rin said, and that emptiness he'd been carrying around suddenly felt a little less so.

And then he felt a strong demonic presence racing towards the entrance hall and realized that the standoff between Lucifer and Samael had finished and Lucifer was probably going to kill him. He stood and jumped up and down a couple times, pushing Shiro's comment to the back of his mind.

"Lucifer's coming," he warned. "See if you can't - "

It was too late; a body smashed through the back wall and entered the room, dripping blood. The body Lucifer had possessed was different from his previous one, which had, oddly, had almost identical features to his body in Gehenna. This body was, from the appearance, one of the Illuminati soldiers, and rather the worse for wear. It wasn't long before Lucifer would have to switch bodies again.

"Rin," he called imperiously. "Find - "

Lucifer paused as he noticed the corpse by Rin's feet and the lack of distance between him and Shiro. His face morphed into a rictus of fury and he staggered towards the wall and pushed himself back up.

"So you have betrayed me, just as you betrayed Father." He paused, then smiled thinly. "Very well."

With surprising speed, he lurched his way towards Rin, but after just a couple steps veered left and grabbed Yukio, pulling their heads together.

"No. NO!" Rin ran towards the two of them. Lucifer was doing something to Yukio, he couldn't let anything happen to Yukio, Yukio was his brother, Yukio couldn't - If he could only run a little faster -

As soon as Rin reached them a shockwave blasted out from Yukio's body and Rin couldn't do anything but curl up and encase himself in his flames, flaring them as high as he could. Landing was painful; rolling over and over until he hit the wall even more so. But the fear won out. He groaned as he pushed himself up and saw Shiro standing over him, blood trailing from an ear, mouthing something that he couldn't make out. Rin's ears were ringing and he felt dizzy and sick.

But he had to check whether or not Yukio was all right. He stood unsteadily and used what was left of the wall - thank goodness the base wasn't underground - as support. As he approached the blast point he saw dead bodies, many of them turned to charcoal. But Yukio - in the center of the blast he saw his brother's body. He slid down the crater, the shallow walls of which had somehow liquefied and re-hardened into something like glass, and knelt. He let out a choked gasp as he realized there wasn't a mark on his brother besides what dust had settled on him; the slowly rising and falling chest only confirmed Yukio's state and Rin felt himself crying. He let them fall.

He jumped as a hand landed on his shoulder and turned to see Shiro looking amazed.

"Hospital," Rin said, his voice sounding oddly muffled. He cocked his head and winced; the blast had no doubt damaged his eardrums - and probably given him a concussion as well. The hospital was for his benefit as well as Yukio's.

Shiro gently gathered Yukio in his arms and Rin took off his shirt to partially cover Yukio - the blat had managed to incinerate his clothing as well as everything around him. As they made their way out of the small crater, Rin glanced back one more time at the charred corpse of Lucifer's host crumbling on the ground.

It was over.

* * *

 **AN: Oh man you're lucky. I was gonna end the chapter before Lucifer and Rin returned to Assiah, but I didn't know how to end it so I just kinda kept going.**

 **Don't worry, we're close, but the story's not over quite yet. How did you like this chapter by the way? I think it pretty decent.**


	27. Chapter 27: King

**Disclaimer: I don't own Blue Exorcist.**

* * *

 _Beep._

 _Beep._

 _Beep._

Rin knew he should be reassured by the steadiness of Yukio's pulse, but his brother still hadn't woken. It had been several weeks, and even if Yukio's 'awakening' hadn't gifted him with advanced healing, the doctors had informed them that there was no longer anything physically wrong with him.

Rin sighed and stood to leave but as he reached the door his sharp ears caught a faint rustling and a slight quickening in his brother's breathing. He stilled.

There was a gagging noise and Rin turned around to see Yukio pulling a tube out of his nose.

"Hey - wait - don't, you don't want to scratch the back of your throat…" Rin trailed off as the tube came free. Yukio coughed once.

"I'll be fine, it should heal in an hour or so, Rin, you know that." Yukio squinted. "Why is everything so blurry?"

Rin had a sudden sense of foreboding. "Your glasses are on the table, Yukio…"

Yukio turned to him, a strange yet oddly familiar expression on his face. "Yukio?"

Rin recoiled, suddenly knowing why the expression on his brother's face was so familiar. He'd seen it so often the past few months, though all those times it was on another's face.

"Lucifer…" he breathed.

"Of course," he replied, looking nonplussed. Rin turned and kicked the small table by the window as hard as he could, knocking it over. The vase of flowers that was on the table shattered when it hit the ground, scattering water and petals everywhere. Rin grimaced and flexed his foot; he'd probably just broken a few of his toes. He'd rather concentrate on that than anything about his brother - whichever one it was - at the moment, so he let it be.

Rin looked back at Lucifer, who was watching him, perplexed. He still hadn't put on Yukio's glasses. Rin gritted his teeth, then sighed, releasing the tension he'd built up in his body. He'd destroy stuff later. For now he'd just have to deal with it

"Put these on," Rin said dully, handing the glasses to Lucifer, who unfolded them gingerly and slipped them on. Rin handed him Yukio's phone, which had also been on the bedside table, after he'd switched it to the camera setting. Lucifer looked at it a moment, unimpressed.

"Why - " He frowned. "Oh. So the possession worked after all."

"You were _trying_ to possess Yukio?"

"Of course I was. You had just betrayed me, I was running low on demonic energy, and Yukio was both a compatible host and someone whose body you wouldn't harm." Rin's jaw clenched.

"Lucifer, I'm warning you right now - leave, or I'll get someone to exorcise you. Three people that are in the hospital right now are capable of it," Rin threatened. He knew Shiro would be able to do it, and Samael - it was almost 2, when Shiro normally visited and Samael had promised to come with him today. Shima probably could, as well, but Rin didn't mention that he was in the hospital to get an appendectomy.

"Please, do," Lucifer stated matter-of-factly. "This empty husk is now a terrible vessel."

"Empty… vessel?" Rin asked hesitantly, dread creeping into his voice.

"Yes. This body's ability to receive demonic energy was severely damaged, and what little energy I can accumulate is spent keeping this body alive. I can't get enough to return to Gehenna, nor is it enough to possess another. So I would very much be grateful if you did exorcise me."

Rin's eyes widened; how had that happened? He shook his head and returned to his earlier question.

"What did you mean by _empty_ husk, Lucifer?"

"I mean that there's barely a trace of Yukio's soul in his body - when I attempted to possess him back at Headquarters it caused his demonic power to forcibly awaken, fully, and it caused a bit of an explosion because thy had been artificially repressed for so long. Yours were only sealed for six years, Rin, but Yukio - he's been repressing them by himself for nearly as long, and then with the help of certain medication after that. I suspect the effect of the medication has lessened recently…"

"Just tell me what happened to my brother!" Rin yelled. Lucifer blinked.

"His brain was damaged, his soul injured, and his connection with his demonic power has been almost completely broken. In other words, as soon as I leave this body it will go catatonic and possibly fall back into a coma."

"Is there any way to heal him?" Rin asked, unable to prevent his voice from cracking in the middle of the question but not really caring.

"Unless you manage to get an angel to help him, no."

Rin let out a short, frustrated laugh. Though the leaders of the exorcist order were occasionally contacted by the odd angel, there was no way one would consent to healing a son of Satan, even if he was half-human and an exorcist.

"So what you're saying is you killed me son?" Cold anger bled through every terse syllable, and the look on Shiro's face was almost frightening. He was followed closely by Samael, whose tone was much more conversational, yet hinted at no less danger.

"And you cannot leave that body on your own, is that correct, Lucifer?"

Lucifer smiled faintly, a cruel mockery of how Yukio would smile at him when he thought he wasn't looking. Whatever happiness he'd gained after Thaziel's death, whatever had been mending in him broke again, and Rin didn't think it would ever truly be fixed.

He wished Lucifer were dead; he wished he could take Kurikara and kill Lucifer himself but he'd been right. Rin wouldn't - _couldn't_ \- hurt him as long as he wore Yukio's face. Rin could do nothing, so he left.

* * *

"Hey, Iblis," Rin said dully. Iblis looked worried, but he couldn't bring himself to really care so he just stole the Pocky box in Iblis's hand and flopped onto the nearest empty seat. Which really wasn't a seat at all but Iblis's bed.

"Rin, just the person we needed to _take control of Gehenna_." Iblis sounded unusually stressed, and Rin reopened his eyes only to be startled by Iblis's face only inches away.

"What the - come on, Iblis. You said you had it covered, and I don't really want to be the 'King of All Demonkind'."

"Well, you are, so deal with it. And that means getting up off _my_ bed, by the way, and fixing the palace and getting the other kings to swear fealty." Iblis didn't sound particularly excited about any of it - except for Rin getting off his bed. "They're already here, might I add, and very impatient."

"And why should I?" Rin asked bitterly. "What has Gehenna ever done for me?"

Iblis leaned back, an incredulous look on his face, and Rin was pleased to see that he'd managed to shock Iblis. And then felt vaguely guilty as he realized that knowing Iblis had resulted from his stay and Gehenna and Iblis had done more for him than any other besides Thaziel, and maybe Shiro.

"Sorry, Iblis, I didn't - I wasn't - "

"Save it. Just remember - you are the one who killed Satan. Not me. There might have been an argument for Lucifer, but he's stuck in Assiah for at least another few decades. You are the King, Rin, whether you like it or not. And sooner or later our brothers are going to track you down, so you might as well talk with them now." Iblis stood and brushed off his pants, dislodging any leftover pocky crumbs.

"I'm sorry," Rin said, and followed Iblis out of his room. He fell in step with him in the hallway though - a king wasn't led but led others, and if he showed up following Iblis he would undermine his own authority. He wouldn't have really cared, except Egyn would be one of the ones he'd have to talk to, and he'd need all the authority he could muster for that particular conversation.

"So, who is impatiently waiting to verbally eviscerate me?" Rin asked, trying and possibly failing to lighten the mood a bit.

"Egyn, Azazel, Beelzebub. Astaroth threw a fit and didn't want to come, so we'll have to get him to swear later."

"Ah - so it's the terrifying one, the stiff one, and the creepy one. And the childish one didn't want to admit his younger brother beat him at something so is sulking in his territory," Rin summarized, trying to predict any objections his older brothers might have. If he didn't prove satisfactory, they were well within their rights to challenge him - and if they did, he didn't know if he'd survive. "Great."

Iblis subtly steered him towards the direction of the throne room. How fitting. He opened the doors to the room and surveyed it, amazed at the progress Iblis had made getting it reconstructed. The walls were almost finished, and the rubble was cleared away. There still wasn't a ceiling, but the mixing of the cold light from the blue flame lanterns and the dull orange light from the sky outside made for interesting shadows.

What had really garnered his attention, however, was the new throne on the dais. The old one had been a dark, rough stone, blocky and stiff and imposing. The new one was still stone, but it was considerable lighter and in more of a gothic style, with distinct points and arches. It was still imposing, but less of a brute-force feel and more of a general sense that it was superior, different from anything else in Gehenna. He walked towards it slowly and ran his hands over the arms. They were smooth, and cool, and hard. It probably wouldn't be very comfortable. Then again, it was rather fitting; the physical discomfort would reflect his discomfort with his position as King.

He turned and sat in the throne, somehow managing to find a semi-comfortable position. Being seated would give him greater leverage in the coming meeting; as King nobody was allowed to sit in his presence unless he allowed it. It was a small thing, but a way he could show he was in control, especially if they tried to ignore that. Then he'd pull rank and make them look like fools.

"Presenting Lord Egyn, Lord Azazel, Lord Beelzebub." The doors opened and a herald announced the arrival of his brothers. Rin made sure he was properly slouching and watched his brothers enter the room with an impassive expression. He watched guardedly as they lined up - sadly, none of them attempted to make themselves more comfortable. Either way, it was a win; it showed they respected the throne enough to at least follow basic etiquette, no matter who was sitting in it.

He observed their expressions and body language carefully - Azazel was relaxed, and wouldn't cause any problems. Beelzebub was, unfortunately, smirking in a way that Rin knew meant he was highly amused by something. Amusement was good, though: he'd let things run their course so he could enjoy whatever chaos would result. Egyn was the one he was worried about. With Lucifer incapacitated and Samael having sworn off his claim to the throne, Egyn was the oldest suitable brother for the throne and would have received the position had Rin not killed Satan. But as it stood, demons valued strength over age.

His face was, as usual, nigh unreadable - but Rin saw the saw the subtle tensing of the muscles in his jaw. He was angry. If Egyn challenged him, he'd have to fight - and while Egyn would be fighting for the throne, Rin would be fighting for survival. Given that, though - was it even worth the win? No matter; he would figure it out if it got that far.

Beelzebub swore first, his teeth making an odd clacking noise as he pronounced the harsh syllables of the fealty oath. Rin peered more closely at his mouth and was a bit startled to note that Beelzebub didn't really _have_ teeth; the clacking was made by a pair of mandibles only visible when he opened his mouth. Not frightening, but decidedly odd. He finished the oath and stepped back, smiling in a way that left his mandibles on display. King of Insects, indeed.

Azazel stepped forward next, and was nothing but the picture of decorum and propriety as he recited the fealty oath. Azazel had always been rather formal.

It was Egyn's turn, now, and Rin couldn't help but sit up straighter as Egyn stepped forward and bowed as both Beelzebub and Azazel had. "I swear by my heart and my kingdom that I will recognize King Rin - " Egyn paused and Rin was worried he was going to have to fight after all, but then Egyn took a deep breath and, gritting his teeth, finished the oath. " - as my Lord and agree to serve him in whatever capacity is required. I will be honored to protect him against those who wish him harm and the subjects of my kingdom will do likewise."

Egyn stepped back in line with the other two and Rin let out the breath he'd been holding. It was his turn, now. He rose and walked to the three of them, stopping just before he got within arm's reach.

"I, King Rin, do accept your oaths. You are now vassals of my kingdom and are welcome here." He lit the tip of one of his fingers with his flame and touched each of their king's rings in turn. It was a simple, slightly ridiculous gesture, but it would ensure that they were recognized as accountable only to himself. And it would let him know if they were in his territory, as it acted as a miniature beacon.

Egyn left immediately after - Rin didn't blame him, Egyn had held nothing but disdain for him since the near-death by drowning, though now it was probably tempered with a bit of grudging respect. Azazel nodded and shook Rin's hand in a silent gesture of approval. Rin humored him and turned to check what Beelzebub had gotten up to. He'd started talking with Iblis, who looked rather perturbed and grew more so as Rin watched. Rin let a smile creep onto his face before he went over to go rescue Iblis.

"Beelzebub," he greeted amiably. Beelzebub turned, grinning his rather creepy grin. Rin wished he'd smirk instead; it was still a creepy smirk but much less disturbing that the full mandible grin.

"Lord Brother," he greeted back. "I'll be going now."

He watched as Beelzebub dissolved into a mass of termites that scuttled away, shaking his head slightly.

"Is there anything else today, Iblis?" Rin said. "Because I'm tired and I really just want to sleep."

Iblis tilted his head a little and frowned. "No, that's it. Go to bed. I'll have someone bring food up."

Rin smiled gratefully, turning to the door and trudging through. His smile dropped as soon as he left, weariness creasing his forehead. Interacting with his brother wasn't usually physically demanding, but the stress it caused more than made up for it. He just wanted a bath, some warm food, and to sleep - preferably without any dreams.

* * *

"My Lord, your brother Lord Iblis is requesting an audience."

Rin stirred and sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes - he'd been somewhere between sleep and wakefulness, and the servant's announcement had finally given him a reason to get up.

"Let him in," he said, and Iblis strolled into his room. He sat down on the edge of Rin's bed and studied him carefully.

"You look awful," he stated with a frown. Rin sighed.

"Thank you, Iblis." It wasn't like there was anything he could do about it; makeup wasn't really a thing in Gehenna and even if it were Rin probably wouldn't wear it. And his flames were not really suited for any type of illusion.

"When do you want me to swear my oath?" He asked.

"You decide, I don't really care."

"Okay then. And what about Astaroth? You need to get his oath before we go to Gehenna to get the others to swear."

"You know what? Let's go right now." Rin walked over to the chair, where he'd left his clothes from the day before. He pulled his trousers on over his shorts and laced his belt through the loops, cinching it tight and adjusting the sheath of his knife so it wouldn't bang against his thigh. As he was pulling his boots on, he noticed Iblis giving him a weird look.

"What?"

"You seem unusually motivated, that's all," Iblis said.

"I just want to get it done with," Rin said, tucking his trouser leg into his boot. He stood up and tapped the ground with his toe a couple times, making sure his boots were on properly. Satisfied, he nodded. "Alright, I'm ready."

Iblis stopped him before he reached the door, holding out a thin metal circlet. Rin scowled, looking Iblis in the eyes, and sighed as he realized his brother wasn't going to back down. He put in on his head.

"Now we're ready," Iblis said, and allowed Rin to exit before following him out.

* * *

Rin and Iblis made quick time to Astaroth's kingdom and arrived at his palace soon after; it was easier to focus on this than anything else. They were met by a footman who looked rather surprised - apparently Iblis had forgotten to send word of their visit - or actually, that would be his own responsibility, as he technically was of higher rank. Ah well, what was done was done and it might prove entertaining.

The footman led them inside, to a small waiting room by Astaroth's living quarters.

"Lord Astaroth, King Rin and Lord Iblis have arrived," he said. Though muffled by the wall, Astaroth's muttered curse was easy enough to hear and Iblis laughed. A few more sentences were exchanged and finally the footman reemerged, saying, "Lord Astaroth will see you now."

He led them into a rather nice sitting room; Rin walked in and sat down on the nearest chair, crossing his legs presumptuously and raising an eyebrow at Astaroth. "Hello, brother," he said. It was kind of fun acting, especially when it made his other brothers so uncomfortable. It wouldn't be fun forever, he knew, so he determined that he'd make the best of it while he still could.

Astaroth looked infuriated and Rin could tell that Iblis was holding back a smile. "We've come because you haven't sworn in yet - through no fault of yours, of course, I understand that things do tend to pop up once in a while - but we wanted to make sure got the opportunity. And in case you don't know the oath, I going to have Iblis do it first. How does that sound?"

Astaroth looked even angrier than before, if it were possible, but fortunately for him he kept his head - he'd never be able to fight the both of them at once. "Iblis, do you mind?"

"Certainly not," he replied, and recited the oath. Rin nodded and accepted; the both of them turned to look at Astaroth.

"And now it's your turn, brother."

Gritting his teeth, Astaroth stepped forward and bowed as shallowly as he could without being outright offensive and gave his oath much in the same way Egyn had, though Rin suspected Astaroth's reasons for disliking him were more petty than Egyn's. Rin let the oath hang in the air for a few moments before accepting it, just to make Astaroth sweat a little.

"I accept your oath," he responded.

* * *

Rin had spent the past ten minutes with Iblis, chalking in the framework for a Gehenna Gate, and now was letting blood drip from his palm onto the circle to activate it.

"Well, that was fun," Iblis said. "I trust you can get the others on board, then?"

"Not to sound arrogant," Rin replied, "but I don't think I'll have any problems. Lucifer will whine about it, of course, but he'll agree if I threaten him. Samael will probably find it amusing and Amaimon follows whatever he does."

"…How long will you be in Assiah?"

It was a good question, the answer of which Rin wasn't even sure of himself. He shrugged.

"Good luck, Rin."

Rin stepped into the Gate and sank into it slowly; the feeling was just as disturbing as ever. He moved through the viscous darkness, emerging after an indeterminable time right outside of Kyoto, the spot he'd appeared over a year before, on the mission that would change everything. He sighed and jogged down the side of the mountain - he'd jumped off the steeper cliff part last time. How arrogant he had been back then.

He had enough Assiahn money with him for transportation to Tokyo - if he took the train, that is; airplane tickets were expensive and it wasn't worth it just to save a few hours.

Of course, he could have formed the Gehenna gate so it would have deposited him very close to Tokyo, but he'd wanted a bit of time to just rest. Maybe it would help him get some energy back; he'd been awfully tired as of late.

He was enjoying the fresh air despite himself. It was peaceful; birds were chirping, there was a slight breeze, and the sun was shining, the light filtering through the leaves and making interesting patterns on the trees. He frowned when he started to see signs of civilization - he'd have to prepare himself mentally for his confrontation of sorts with Samael and Amaimon, and he didn't even want to think about his oldest brother at the moment.

He found his way quickly to the train station, paid for his ticket, and found a seat. As soon as the train started, he fell asleep.

He woke again a couple hours later to someone shaking his shoulder gently. "Excuse me, sir," the person said. He groggily opened his eyes and blinked. "We have arrived, so you must get off now."

"Ah, thanks," he replied, stretching and then standing. He got off and transferred to the next train - the process was repeated twice more, though he didn't fall asleep again on the other two legs. It was kind of nice to just sit and watch the scenery as they passed, it was almost meditative.

Finally, though, they reached the Shinjuku station and he steeled himself. From there he took a bus - it was a relatively short ride - to True Cross Town, and was dropped off in front of the crowded hill. He started walking, head down and hood up, straight to the Academy, straight to Samael. The other students were giving him odd looks and whispering about him - it was impossible to miss with his demon ears. He couldn't blame them, though: it wasn't every day that someone not in uniform just wandered around on campus.

Eventually he found himself in front of Samael's questionably-decorated doors. The pink and purple still stood out alarmingly against the clean white of the walls, instilling a faint unease in whoever walked past - or, as in Rin's instance, dreaded opening them.

However, it was something he was going to have to do unless he wanted a civil war in Gehenna to break out, so he took a deep breath and knocked. He heard a faint "Come in!" and entered to see his brother sitting in a striped armchair, chin resting on his laced fingers.

"Oh, so it is you, after all?" Samael asked, obviously having been expecting him. He wore a faint smirk, as if he'd gotten exactly what he wanted; knowing him, he probably had. With Rin ruling Gehenna he'd be free to play around in Assiah all he liked.

"Yes, it's me," Rin affirmed. "You probably know what I'm here for."

"Of course, dear brother. I'd be happy to swear, just give me a moment - I must really call Amaimon and Lucifer in here, it wouldn't do to swear without witnesses and they need to as well, don't they?"

Samael's tone was almost simpering and Rin found himself gritting his teeth. "Just do it already."

He slid into a nearby chair, facing away from the door. He'd have to face Lucifer when he accepted the oath, but he wanted to put off looking at him as long as possible, even if it was only by ten seconds. Samael didn't move, but Rin knew he was getting the message out somehow - that irritating smirk of his told him so.

Sure enough, just a couple minutes later the door behind him opened and closed.

"Brother, why did you call us here?" He heard Amaimon ask, and Rin stood, still facing away from the door.

"I see." It was Lucifer, he knew, but hearing him speak with Yukio's voice was painful. It was just as Rin remembered, but the words were touched with a slight accent that Yukio never had.

Rin turned. "It's time for you to pledge fealty to me, as your new King." There was really nothing more to say.

So they swore - Amaimon first, as the youngest, then Samael, and then Lucifer. Each one took all he had to keep his face completely impassive, and when they were finished he bowed and accepted their oaths. He kept his face pointed to the floor a moment longer than necessary to reinforce his impassive mask, then straightened.

"Know this - I am the King of Gehenna now, the King of Demons. Though you have decided to live in Assiah, I am still the ultimate authority. I can and will come after you if you decide to go against my policies. For now, though," he paused, looking them over, "Farewell."

He walked out of Samael's office - did he sleep in those rooms, too? - and outside, where he summoned his flames to sear a circle into the ground. He cut his finger with a knife and allowed a few drops of blood to fall to the ground, activating the circle, then flared his flames so he'd be sucked into the Gate and back to Gehenna quickly. He stumbled upon landing in his rooms and quickly looked around; no one had seen him, good. It wouldn't do for his subjects to see him in such an unimpressive state. He changed quickly into clothing more appropriate for his station and left to go find Iblis. He had a kingdom to run.

* * *

 **AN: One more chapter to go, so stay tuned.**


	28. Chapter 28: Epilogue

**Thank you to all of my faithful readers, for sticking with me until the very end. I'm honestly amazed at the response this story has gotten - I remember the first review I ever got, from 'guest' who kindly informed me that I uploaded the document's html file and not just the text. And I still read every single review I get and it makes my day.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Blue Exorcist.**

 **AN: This is a couple years later.**

* * *

Guard duty was boring, it really was; at least ninety-nine percent of the time nothing happened and they just stood there. The other one percent was when an ambassador or dignitary went through the Gate (it had been placed there after the treaty between the kingdom of Gehenna and the Exorcist order was finalized), which while exciting only lasted a short time before returning to monotony.

Except now something was happening and he hadn't heard anything about it, which he knew meant it was an unauthorized use of the Gate. A quick glance at his partner assured him he was right; she was watching the Gate warily as well.

He activated his radio. "Sir, the Gate has been activated. Not much activity yet besides agitation - wait, small visible arcs of energy are appearing. Over."

The radio crackled. " _Roger that. We're sending an ArcKnight down. Over_."

He clipped the radio back to his uniform and shared the orders. "They're sending an ArcKnight down, just keep watch!"

"Yes, sir," the other guards chorused, and they watched with bated breath as a small figure appeared in the Gate. He edged closer warily, and was utterly shocked at the appearance of a small child lying on top of the eerie heads. The kid sat up and scowled.

"Who you?" He demanded, standing up and wading out of the Gate. "Look funny." The kid's hands went down to his hip.

Great. The kid had attitude. And a knife. He looked at him carefully, trying to figure the kid out. He looked to be about four or five years old, with blue eyes that were almost purple and short black hair that revealed pointed ears. A demon for sure then - the clothes also gave him away.

"Calm down, kid, we're not going to do anything."

The boy scowled again, obviously still suspicious.

"Hello!"

He and the rest of the guards breathed a sigh of relief as Lewin Light entered the room. Light noticed the kid immediately and his eyes narrowed, though his cheerful grin remained.

"I'm Lewin Light. What's your name?"

"Yukio."

The name sounded familiar, he just wasn't sure where he'd heard it before. And it was familiar to ArcKnight Light, too, if the widening of his eyes was any indication.

"I apologize, Prince Yukio. We will tell your father immediately and he'll come get you, okay? And while you wait you can stay with your Uncle Samael, how about that?"

"I like Uncle Iblis more," Yukio said, still scowling, and he nearly fumbled his spear. This kid - he was the son of Rin, the King of Gehenna. And from what ArcKnight Light had said - King Rin was coming _here_.

"We'll tell your Uncle Iblis, too, okay?" The kid nodded and followed ArcKnight Light out of the room. Light turned around before leaving to add, "Rin's probably gonna show up real soon, so just don't attack, okay? And if he asks you anything, tell him I've got him."

Light was gone before he could compose himself enough to protest - demon kings were _way_ above his paygrade - and he looked back at all the other guards in the chamber. They all were similarly stupefied but as he watched the expressions started to turn panicky. So he steeled himself and did his duty as captain.

"It's okay, guys - just pretend there's a really irritable demon that's going to come through the Gate. We've dealt with demons before. We've dealt with irritable people before. We've dealt with irritable demons before. And this time, he probably won't be trying to kill us."

His group looked marginally better - still terrified, but not panicked. It was an improvement, at least. And now it was time to wait - maybe they'd calm down some. But then again, the wait would also wear down their - and _his_ \- nerves.

Fortunately the wait wasn't actually that long - it was perhaps half an hour before the Gate started becoming more active again. It was a bit more violent this time, too: the crackles of electricity were thicker, and blue flames danced over the surface. A silhouette grew in the middle of the seething mass of heads and the King of Demons emerged.

He was surprisingly average - his head was bowed slightly, dark bangs overshadowing his eyes. He was dressed rather simply - a white shirt, a vest, trousers - and a circlet of silver on his head, which was the only thing marking him as royalty. And then his head snapped up and cold burning blue eyes bored into him.

"Where is he?"

He took a shuddering breath - the King, despite his youthful appearance, had an unearthly presence about him that was more terrifying than he could have imagined.

"A-ArcKnight Light has him - said they were going to Samael."

The King swept past him, heat radiating from his body, and left the Gate chamber, shoes clicking softly on the stone floor.

"Sorry about that," someone said in a conversational tone. "It's just little Yuki is rather vulnerable and Rin worries."

He whipped around; another demon had come through the Gate while everyone's attention was on the King. He looked similar to Rin except he was a bit taller and lankier - that and his hair was literally flaming.

"I'm Iblis, by the way, and I should probably leave now and make sure Rin doesn't burn down anything too important on accident, nice meeting you!"

Iblis disappeared as well, and he breathed a sigh of relief, as did the rest of his team.

"That didn't go too badly, did it?" He asked, voice still a bit shaky.

"Wait till I tell my brother about this," he heard one of the other guards say, and smiled. It seems they'd be fine.

* * *

Rin was absolutely terrified. And he couldn't show it because that would only put Yuki in more danger; the more who knew about his disappearance the more possible it was someone with a grudge would go after him, and that absolutely _could not_ happen. He'd gotten Iblis and his wife in on the search; he'd gotten all those in his employ he knew were trustworthy; he'd even gotten _Beelzebub_ to look around.

No Yukio.

But then - _then_ \- a contracted demon had shown up, saying that Yukio was in Assiah. He'd rushed to the Gate with Iblis tagging along (he said it was for damage control and Rin fully agreed) and hadn't hesitated before jumping through.

He admitted he'd probably been a bit cold to the guards on the human side of the Gate, but he didn't have the time to waste on pleasantries. Yukio was waiting for him, in Samael's company, and possibly Light's.

He slammed open the door to Samael's rooms - still covered in otaku paraphernalia - and stormed in.

"Samael! Yuki?"

"Dad!"

His son ran out from behind a stack of boxes and tackled his legs. Rin picked him up and held him against his chest, breathing in his scent to reassure him he was fine. And then held him out at arm's length to glare at him.

"What did we tell you about wandering on your own, huh?"

"…that I wasn't s'posed to do it."

"This is why you listen to your parents, Yuki, so you don't get lost like this. Next time, do what we ask, okay? Or else I'll make you stay in your room and practice reading. All day."

Yukio looked horrified, and Rin couldn't help but smile - he'd definitely inherited his own more active nature.

"Okay, dad, I promise."

* * *

 **AN: I went back to school, and my schedule has been pretty busy, but then November rolled around and I decided to finish up. It also took me forever to figure out what I was going to do for this chapter and eventually I settled on this. It wasn't quite what I was expecting, but *** **shrugs** ***, here it is.**


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